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bambikisss · 2 years ago

Text

:: ; ' RUN FOR THE CROWN, BABY

-> While being on KINGDOM, you run into and meet Wooyoung, who lays down a challenge: if their group wins, he gets a date with you. If you win, you get his prized motorcycle.

SONG: CROWN - Camilla Cabello

A/N: You will be an idol in this story, heh

SMUT: Choking, unprotected sex, biting

TAG LIST: @woozluv @layzfeelit @choisansnotsolegalwife

@chiefbananaearthquake

You were always known as the competitive member of your group, maybe in all of the Korean pop industry. You participated in a survival show to be added to your current girl group's lineup and your determination to be the best made you an instant fan favorite. You were such a great all-rounder that you were seated in the number one position and became your group's center. You were the total package to everyone in the industry and your fans.

So when you were asked to perform and compete in Kingdom's first mixed-gender season, you instantly accepted it. You were looking forward to performing by yourself, hoping to become number one and beat the boy and girl groups.

It was no rumor that you were the underdog coming into the competition; you were a soloist going up against groups with 8 to 12 members. You basically had to have the stage presence of a whole group with your performances. It was indeed a challenge, and you were up for it. You walked backstage, your manager going through your schedule for the stage rehearsal, ignoring the looks from the groups who watched you walk. You carried yourself with so much confidence that everyone admired or was called ignorant. Again, you didn't really care.

After getting a rundown of how the show worked, you checked out the stage, noticing Wooyoung's large motorcycle parked in the corner. It was a beautiful sleek black, the seat supported with a cushion. He barely let you see it, let alone touch it, but brought it for a performance in Kingdom. You wanted to take advantage of him not being around, glancing around to make sure he wasn't around before getting closer to it. You let your fingers run over the center, admiring it before jumping slightly at the cough of someone behind you. You turned around, raising an eyebrow at a laughing Wooyoung. You had your fair share of interactions with him and all of ATEEZ and had become friends with them. You shoved his shoulder as he doubled over, wiping his eye as he followed the sound of your clicking heels as you left the stage. "Come on, Y/N, it was kind of funny."

"No, Wooyoung, it wasn't" you continued to walk away, Wooyoung rushing to grab the railing of the stairs, jumping over it to land in front of you, halting you from walking away. He airly apologized as he tried to hold in his laugh, running a hand through his hair. You rolled your eyes, accepting his apology before trying to walk past him, the boy following after you quickly. He was like a puppy following you around; whenever he saw you at any event, he was glued to your arm until he was ripped away to go perform or watch you perform. Many idols thought you two were dating, but you both always laughed off the rumor, maybe a bit too hard according to some people. "So, I hear you're coming in as a solo artist, huh? Are you so sure that you can beat everyone?" He wasn't asking as he didn't have faith in you, because he did. He was asking because he knew that this event was filled with casualties, like MNET's dirty editing and how it may look to the public with you coming into the competition alone. He knew that fans seeing you do this competition alone could create some drama and wanted to make sure you were aware of that. "I think I can do well. My members seem to think so, too." You patted his shoulder as you walked into your dressing room, grabbing a water bottle and your mic to prepare for your rehearsal. Wooyoung leaned against the doorframe, watching you as you gathered your items before sighing. "You know we're now competitors, Y/N. I can't be so nice to you now." You noted the playfulness in his voice, leaning close to his face, your nose touching as you mumbled "is that so? such a pity," giggling softly at his breath hitching, patting his shoulder as you made your way to the stage.

Now that you thought about it, you could see why so many idols thought you two were dating; you both flirted with one another so often. It was filled with playful flirting, filled with getting close to one another, and teasing words and touches. You both never intended for it to go farther than that, but you couldn't deny that you loved teasing him and loved it when he teased you right back.

So, it didn't surprise you to see him and the rest of ATEEZ standing by the stage, watching your stage rehearsal, his eyes staying on you throughout the performance. He licked his lips as you moved, staring as you moved with your dancers and drank in your every movement. You were the only person on that stage that mattered to him.

After you performed, you bowed to everyone, ATEEZ cheering for you as you made your way off the stage. You scoffed softly as you watched Wooyoung shamelessly check you out as you walked away, making sure to sway your hips as you knew you had an audience.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, the audience of one you thought you had turned out to be an audience of many throughout your time on the show.

You sighed as you read through another letter from an idol that was on the show, sending you their numbers and private Instagrams. You tossed it to join the many others on the table in front of you, your stylist giggling as the paper fell onto the floor. "You seem to be very popular," she commented, making you roll your eyes. "Are you upset because you think it's stupid or because none are from Wooyoung?" You snapped to turn to face your stylist as if she was crazy, her laughter filling the room as she looked at you. She raised her hand and curling iron in defense as she noticed your surprised reaction, ushering for you to return to the seat so she could finish your hair.

You let her comment rest in your mind as she finished your hair, stopping her before she could start on your makeup. "Did...he mention liking me?" Your stylist smiled, picking up the makeup palette as she nodded, a knowing smirk on her lips. "I may or may have not heard through the grapevine about some things." You nodded, trying to not give away your true feelings as she worked on putting makeup on, then helped you change into your dress. You chose to do an old Hollywood glamor style for the finals, which included a slit in your dress and lots of glittery jewelry. You had totally forgotten all about what your stylist had said about Wooyoung until he slipped into your dressing room after she left, obviously about to make a joke or two before he halted at when he saw you. His eyes scanned your body slowly, his words halting in his throat as he noticed the clothes you were wearing. He thought you looked gorgeous; the black dress hugged your figure well and the slit went high on your thigh that left not that much to his imagination. He admired it once more before he ripped his eyes to meet yours, obviously attracted to how you looked. His feet moved before he could think, his feet crushing the fallen confessions that came from the other idols, his hands caging you against the table as he leaned close, you moving back in surprise. You felt your cheeks become warm at how close he was and how dark his eyes had become, not used to his demeanor changing completely. He looked you up and down once more before slowly pulling away from you, his cologne still in the air close to you as he smirked, placing his hands in his pockets.

"You think looking pretty is going to help you win tonight, Y/N?" You scoffed at his change of demeanor, shoving his shoulder once more. "So you think I'm pretty?"

"Of course, Y/N. You look amazing. But, you're gong up against my group and" he paused to kiss his teeth, a coy smile on his lips as he chuckled. "We have an amazing stage planned out sooo-"

"You want to make a bet then?" You cut him off, crossing your arms as your heels clicked against the floor, Wooyoung's eyes darkening once more at how close you were to him again. "Put your money where your mouth is?"

He paused, licking his lips before nodding, obviously not fully paying any attention to your words. "I want your prized motorcycle when I win" Your words snapped him out of his daze, the boy's eyes snapping up to meet yours. "Not my prized motorcycle. It was bad enough I had to use it on this stage and I'm not risking it-" "Come on, Wooyoung, you were so confident before." The boy paused at your confidence, taking a minute before stepping up to stand chest to chest with you, his hand coming to play with the strings on your dress before pulling you roughly against his chest, staring down at you with hungry eyes.

"I'll put something else where my mouth is," he mumbled, the joke hanging in the air as you both eyed each other's lips, almost wanting to crash into one another. You could feel your lips tingle as you continued to eye his own, watching as he wet them with his tongue before fitting around the words he spoke.

"If you win, you can get my motorcycle, I don't care. But, if I do, I want one date..."

You paused at his words, your eyes moving up to his as he pulled away from your body, leaving you suddenly cold as he left the room, not turning back around to face you. You touched your lips as they still tingled, your mind going back to his words. He wanted to take you out on a date if he won?

You, for a second, thought about losing on purpose but your pride and ego returned when you heard your manager call for you from the hallway. You tried to compose yourself, making your way out to join her in the hallway, smiling as your dancers cheered for you as you all made your way to the stage, passing by the other groups who also cheered. Many of them had given you love letters, but your eyes caught Wooyoung's who also had a finger on his lips as his was also buzzing from how close the two of you were and how close you both were to kissing.

You stood on stage, the camera ready as you got ready, the stage lights hitting your jewelry beautifully as you held your mic in your hand, calming yourself down as your dancers got ready, offering you some words of encouragement, and hyping you up as the recording started.

Wooyoung's eyes were glued to the screen as you sang and performed, his eyes taking in every movement you made, his members teasing him as he watched you. The stage lights hit all the diamonds you wore beautifully and made you look like an old Hollywood singer. You, to him, looked perfect.

He watched as you stepped down to dance with one of your dancers, feeling a pang of jealousy as he picked you up, letting your head fall back as you continued to sing. He wished it was him; he wanted to be the reason your head fell back with the sweet notes you were singing. Maybe he also wanted to have his hands all over your body, jealous that the dancer could touch your thighs as Wooyoung was far too nervous to actually touch the skin he had admired in the dressing room a few moments prior.

When you finished, he clapped, noticing the camera zooming in on his expressions as he admired you, coughing as he realized the footage they may have of him is him just staring at you. He watched as you made your way backstage, getting up as fast as possible to meet you in the hallway.

Your eyes both met as he stopped you in the hallway, his eyes staring at you for what felt like forever. Neither one of you made a move to say anything, only staring. You wanted him to speak first, to compliment you on how you did.

"You did well, Y/N"

You wanted him to pull you into your dressing room and kiss you.

"Can I talk to you?"

You both must've had the same thoughts, Wooyoung pulling you to your dressing room as no one suspected a thing, letting him pull you into the room before pinning you against the wall, your lips crashing into a hard kiss. He immediately gripped your thigh, massaging it as he pulled you up to wrap your legs around his waist, your hands going into his hair. He admired the way your voice sounded as he kissed down your neck, the notes sounding like how you sang on stage. He licked and bit your neck, his hips rolling to meet yours as he let himself become filled with you. He locked the door, ripping off your dress as you both continued to kiss, only breaking away when you both were naked. He looked you up and down like he did when he first saw you in the dress earlier, his hand coming to grab your ass as he pulled you close to him.

"Y/N...you drive me crazy"

His chuckle was breathless as his hands moved up your back, grabbing the back of your throat as he pulled you into another kiss, then moved to the front as he led you to a couch you had in there. He laid you down softly as if he was in no rush. As if you two were the only ones in the world. He kissed your stomach, slowly making his way to your lips as you moaned his name, the boy meeting your lips with a moan of his own. "If you keep saying my name like that, baby, I'm going to fuck you so hard and I wanna take my time with you" he moaned into your neck, slowly pushing into you as your nails scratched down his back, his teeth biting you as you squeezed him. You felt like heaven to him; warm velvet that held him close. "You've ruined this for anyone else" he suddenly said, his eyes meeting yours as he rested on his forearms. "I won't want to have sex with anyone else but you from now on, baby"

"Show me then, Wooyoung. Show me how much you only want me." You let your arms wrap around his neck as his hips began to move, the boy closing his eyes before leaning down to kiss you to muffle his own as his hips sped up. He let the sound of your muffled moans and the couch scraping against the floor urge him along, muffling into your neck how much he loved you and how good you felt. For a hookup, to you, it felt so much more sensual than any other hookup you ever had. You shoved your own head into his neck when he began to play with your clit, urging for you to cum for him so you both could cum together. He whined softly before holding your hand tightly, murmuring how much he loved you as you both tumbled over the edge, kissing as you both came, each other's name muffled into each other's mouths before he kissed all over your face, pulling out slowly.

He sighed, staring down at you as he got a towel to clean you both, then helped you get dressed, before cuddling you close on the couch. He laid his head on your shoulder, no words being spoken as he rubbed your back, you both taking in the feeling that you both shared.

"Hey, Y/N." You hummed at his question, a kiss being placed on your forehead in response. "You can have the motorcycle..."

"No, that wasn't the bet" You pulled back to face him, Wooyoung scoffing before placing you onto the couch, standing up as he stretched.

The playful atmosphere returned.

As you both "argued", he would occasionally kiss you to shut you up when you made a great point before leaving when his members called him, letting him know that they had to go on stage for awards. You waited a few moments, checking yourself in the mirror before going to join them all on the stage, your dancers surrounding you as you sat down. You also made eye contact with Wooyoung as you sat down, smiling at him as he wished you good luck. It was the first time that you hoped you lost.

"Our winner is...Y/N!"

You and your dancers sprung up as confetti fell, the other groups cheering as you were handed the award. To you, it felt like a dream. You watched as the confetti covered everyone, thanking everyone as they hugged you before rushing to hug Wooyoung, who smiled softly. Before he could speak, you cut him off, saying "I want that date instead of the motorcycle"

He paused, chuckling before nodding, kissing your cheek discreetly before picking you up, laughing as everyone cheered for you.

You held the crown before placing it onto his head, smiling as he placed you down, kissing you softly. "You look hot with this crown on, baby." You chuckled at his comment, kissing him once more as people cheered.

#ateez #ateez wooyoung #wooyoung #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez yeosang #ateez yunho #ateez smau #yeosang #yunho #atz #jongho #mingi #ateez smut

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thesunshinebunny · 4 years ago

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Hello! I've seen two asks with the first reaction of a Fem!Reader dancing in an erotic/sexy way. (One with the dorm heads and one with the vice dorm heads-)

So I thought I could ask the same thing, but with Cater, Jack, Floyd, Epel, Sebek and Silver. It's okay if it's breaking the rules or you're not comfortable with writing it! But thanks in advance anyways! Stay peachy!! ^^

I never thought I'd end up making a whole series of requests for this style, and to think that the dorm heads was my first order for Twst, what a great start.

Dorm Leaders reaction

Vice Dorm Leaders reaction

As always, all characters are +18 Enjoyyyyyy

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Cater

Montero – Lil Nas X

I imagine Cater as a person who follows trends and is aware of the new music that comes out every single day, so I don't think it is weird to find him listening to the new of Lil Nas x (hiding it from Riddle obviously, knowing him that kind of songs would be strictly prohibited in the halls of Heartslabyul)

But as smart as Cater could get with social media and internet fashions, he didn't notice how you had gotten into music so much that you were mentally creating a choreography.

One specifically for him.

So, when you asked him to spend some private time in the comfort of his bedroom, he didn't expect at all that you would sit him in the middle of his bed just passing the threshold.

For a moment he thought you were going to give him a massage or a handjob, but when you told him to wait patiently, that you were going to change, his impure thoughts were dispelled, thinking that you were going to get more comfortable to snuggle with him.

How wrong he was. It was seeing you come out of the bathroom with a hoodie (that warm and purposeful had nothing), which barely covered your sports bra and shorts, half covering your butt, when all unseemly thoughts returned to his mind.

He stretched out his hands to pull you to him, but you stayed in place, saying you had another surprise.

Cater automatically took out his cell phone to record and take some occasionals photos.

Watching you dance so freely, doing a private show and personally for him made his heart race to a thousand an hour. Even his pants were starting to tighten.

It was seeing your ass and automatically biting his lips. In his mind he was wanting to place each palm on each of your cheeks and squeeze them as he held you against him, preventing you from moving, and his cock buried well deep inside you.

"Are you happy to see me?" your question brought him out of his reverie, realizing that your choreography was over.

He put the cell phone aside and pounced on you, wrapping his arms around you, capturing your lips and throwing you on the bed. Perhaps, among all the ruffle, he put his phone in recording mode and captured ... the entire subsequent session.

Don't worry, Cater would never divulge a video like that and if you want it delete it, he will do it immediately. If not, he will keep it in a folder with a password.

Jack

Solo – Demi Lovato

Jack tried multiple times to convince you to go train with him around the Savannaclaw arena, but each time you refused, stating that you liked being more in the comfort of the bed, covered up to your head, rather than get up at five in the morning to run.

He didn’t take it the wrong way, the way he trained was not for everyone, but he did advise you not to stay still and fall into a sedentary lifestyle, claiming that it would be harmful to your health.

Therefore, you decided to start training on your own, with your own time and doing a little of what you liked most; because remember: to be able to dance like divine goddesses, you need to train ... and a lot.

While he went out for a run, you stayed asleep, when classes ended it was your turn to train.

One day classes ended quite early in your case, allowing you to go to Jack's room to rest and wait for him; But the minutes grew long and what seemed like an hour of waiting turned into two.

So… loud music, more comfortable clothes and practice.

And what does Jack like more than training? See you give your best while doing what you like.

Finding you in his room dancing in sportswear was an image that he would like to print and keep in his mind.

He didn’t care that you were sweating or that the clothes weren’t the tightest to mark your figure, just seeing you move your hips was what he needed to have a smile from ear to ear.

Finish your dance calmly, that your gray wolf will be waiting for you at the door, smiling at you and with open arms to give you a big hug for the effort.

He would eat you with kisses and bites to show you how happy he was to see you happy. If this leads to more… spicy things, that's up to you.

What if I recommend you not to dance this same choreography in the training field in broad daylight, where everyone can see you. The results could be a bit possessive.

But, if you're brave enough, don't complain later if you end up with bites and marks all over your body.

Floyd

My oh My – Camilla Cabello

You walked into the gym expecting to find the basketball team training as usual, but there was no one in their place. Absolute silence.

You took the opportunity to place your backpack next to the roadways, change into comfortable sportswear and put on some music to improve the atmosphere.

When this song started to play, you elatedly stood in the middle of the gym, a sly smile on your face, completely ignoring the sound of rumbling footsteps and slowly approaching the gym.

You were in the middle of the choreography when you felt two arms gripping you tightly, leaving you gasping for air. You screeched as Floyd began to squeeze you more and more, making it impossible for you to move.

"My my, nobody taught you to pay attention to your surroundings when you're alone, koebi-chan?" that sceared the shit out of you.

"Can I dance with you?"

He pulled you closer to him, pressing your back against his torso and your hips against his, lifting you off the floor, and began to spin and sway to the rhythm of the music.

The situation made you laugh until you felt his hand pass over your chest and touch your breast. He settled you against the wall, now your pussy positioned on his erect dick, grinding it thanks to his arms that held you in the air.

At no point did either of you stop the music, letting the playlist roll on and cover the sweet moans coming out of your mouth.

Some freshman ventured into the gym when they heard faint groans creep through the large metal doors.

They got the scare of their lives when they saw Floyd pounding from behind you, staring straight at the entrance and throwing death threats with just his eyes.

Epel

Do it like a dude – Jessie J

Listen to me... you can't tell the only woman at NRC that she can't participate in a dance competition because "it's only for guys"

Uhhhhhhhhh, if I was in that situation how would break their teeth.

Buuuut, you were able to defend yourself in a better way… going to the middle of the training ground where the competition (led by Professor Vargas) was taking place.

I have to say that you left all the participants with icy skin? Other than making them feel like they have a small dick. Straight to the ego.

And Epel was no different. He wasn’t embarrassed by the fact that a girl had beaten him in steps that were recognized later is another matter not ashamed at all, not at all.

Which did bring his ego to the ground and his self-esteem was to see you give your all to overthrow sexism, while he could barely stand in the same line as those of Savannaclaw.

Either way, he enjoyed watching you dance, you seemed re-empowered and that gave you an aura of a strong and powerful woman.

If those who refused to let you participate didn’t give you the prize, rest assured that Epel will leave them in their place, perhaps with the help of Deuce.

He asked you how you could have so much confidence in yourself and that may have caused a butterfly effect ... he wanted to know, well you will teach him in bed.

Two or three tricks may have taken effect and in the next competition (or anything) Epel will give his best, even if he has you as an opponent.

Victory sex for whoever wins? Victory sex.

Sebek

Play with Fire – Sam Tinnesz

You were calm in the comfort of your bedroom, going over some class assignments, some background music, Grimm sleeping next to the bed. A normal day.

But quite boring.

You decided to go down to do a little stretching, so much time hunched over in bed looking at the notes it makes your back very bad. You took your cell phone and left the little cat sleeping comfortably.

Between those stretches you got the idea of practicing a little choreography, nothing too complicated or time consuming; maybe half an hour, forty minutes and that's it.

Well, it ended up being a two hour workout, doing one choreography more complicated than the other. Night had fallen and you were supposed to have a little "date" with Sebek right in your bedroom.

There were knocks on the door, but with the volume of the music you couldn't hear them, nor did you hear the creak of the door opening and closing.

Sebek found you in the middle of the living room, moving your arms around your body. He’s not stupid, he knew you were doing a choreography and he would have enough patience to let you finish it and show up.

What he didn’t expect was to see your figure fall to the floor and move in those ... eccentric movements

Indecent thoughts get out of this mind.

You finished dancing and Sebek was still standing in the middle of the hall, not knowing what to do, where to look, and if he was allowed to speak.

"Sebek are you ok? When did you came in?"

Completely taken out of his reverie, ready to continue the evening as if nothing had happened.

Inwardly he was dying of excitement.

Without telling you anything, with the "date" half finished, having a good and sweet dinner, he just ... slamed you against the wall and took you right there and there.

You both ended up scaring poor Grimm. He just wanted to come down to eat his tuna.

Silver

Maria - 화사 (Hwasa)

It wasn’t unusual to hear multiple and different songs in the corridors of Diasomnia, especially with Lilia as a member of the light music club; it was normal to hear all kinds of rhythms, even different languages.

Therefore, Silver didn’t find it unusual to hear Korean lyrics as he walked through the lounge of his dorm.

What he did think was strange was hearing footsteps and blows, which had a very peculiar resemblance to the rhythm of music.

In a corridor somewhat away from the common area, which led to a small meeting room and greater tranquility, you were there with the music blasting and dancing as if you were the owner of the place.

Don't get me wrong, Silver was 1000% okay with you dancing in his dorm, even if you wanted to do it on a table in the middle of the lounge room… be his guest.

What he couldn’t allow was his roommates seeing you so… free, sure of yourself, indisputably if you were wearing sports clothes or little clothes, leaving nothing to the imagination.

And if Malleus was among those people… ufff, a big no from our silver boy.

He would go to where you were and lift you by the legs, placing you on his shoulder and commenting that you could continue your dance in a more private place.

That place was his room.

"The way you dance is ... intoxicating"

If at any time the brilliant idea of approaching Silver occurs to you while you dance, take it for granted that he will grab you in his arms and throw you on the bed.

Nope, he's not going to let you finish the choreography. He has another type of choreography in mind.

Lilia put up a do not disturb sign on the other side of the door, proud to see his son a grown-up… apart from the fact that he would have a little “chat” with him immediately after the deed it doesn't matter if you’re still naked and pathetically covered with sheet, he would just *pufff*

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst #twst x reader #cater diamond #cater x reader #jack howl #jack howl x reader #jack x reader #floyd leech #floyd x reader #epel felmier #epel x reader #sebek zigvolt #sebek x reader #silver #silver x reader #silver twst

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shelovescontrol91 · 3 years ago

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Between a starring role in Cinderella, live performances, and a forthcoming album, it would appear things are business as usual for Camila Cabello. But there’s a difference: Before the pandemic her work was leaving her drained, anxious, and insecure. Now she’s found a way to be a pop star on her own terms, and everything—from the music to her relationship with her body—has fallen into place.

By mid-September, Camila Cabello was feeling burnt out. In the span of three days she had performed at the MTV Video Music Awards, attended the Met gala with boyfriend Shawn Mendes, and shot the first-ever global cover for Glamour. So when she finally returned home to Miami, rest wasn’t just desired—it was essential.

But rehearsals for New York’s Global Citizen Festival loomed. Before jumping back into pop star mode, Cabello put on a yellow bikini and headed to the beach for two hours of blissfully uninterrupted downtime. She sank into a chair and cracked open a book, her favorite pastime. The salty air enveloped her; waves crashed in the distance. This is why she lives in Miami, her hometown, as opposed to a showbiz hub like Los Angeles: more privacy.

Or so she thought. Somehow the paparazzi found out where she was for those 120 minutes. She didn’t see them at first, but there they were, snapping away.

“I didn’t consent to those pictures,” she tells me over Zoom, camera off as she drives in Miami. (At one point she says to someone on the road, “Why are you honking at me, bro?”) “I got my period on the beach. I’m in a bikini and on my period, so I don’t know if I have a fucking period stain and that’s going to be everywhere. I didn’t sign up for anybody to be taking pictures of me in a bikini.”

Cabello has developed methods for dealing with invasive situations like this. She’s had to. The 24-year-old—born in Cuba, raised in Miami—has been in the public eye since 2012, when she competed on The X-Factor. She auditioned as a solo artist but was later matched with four other girls to form the pop group Fifth Harmony. They released two albums before Cabello embarked on her own—and achieved mind-boggling fame. Her singles “Havana” and “Señorita” (with Mendes) topped the charts worldwide. She’s earned three Grammy nominations, become a face of L’Oréal, and tried her hand at not just acting but starring in a feature film: this year’s Cinderella remake on Amazon Prime. Her third studio album, Familia, is due out later this year.

By all accounts it’s a lot. Careerwise it’s the closest things have felt to prepandemic times, when she was working constantly, arguably to an exhausting degree. As COVID-19 shutdowns went into effect last March, Cabello was able to realize just how tired she was.

“I by no means am trying to complain,” she says, “but it was such a thing of, ‘I have to get onstage tomorrow and I’m performing at this big thing,’ or whatever. ‘I want to do a good job. How do I do that when I feel nervous?’ I did this without being like, ‘Am I even happy right now? Do I even feel healthy?’ I didn’t have the space to ask myself those questions. I’m still working a ton now, but after quarantine I’m able to be like, ‘You know what? Right now I’m just not happy. I need to change something.’”

Therapy helped her see the changes she needed to make. Cabello tells me she’d experimented with therapy before the pandemic, but it was always situation focused—quick fixes to help her tackle the next performance or songwriting session. But with time at home, she dug deeper: “Because I wasn’t stressed about all the things I needed to do the next day, I was able to slow down and have enough stability to look at my stuff.”

Cabello doesn’t expand on what that “stuff” is. She does, however, explain why she decided to switch therapists as her internal work continued. “I wasn’t feeling like I was progressing in the areas I wanted to progress,” she says. “But when I switched, I found I was able to apply what they said in a way that benefited my mental health.”

One lesson she’s learned is the power of saying no. Two hit albums under her belt give Cabello the freedom to do things her way. Now she always has one day off a week, minimum. And when time came to start work on Familia, she forwent the standard pop music factory for a more intimate approach. The new album was made with just a handful of collaborators she could be open with. If Cabello was feeling anxious or nervous in a session, she had the space to address it. As a result, she says, it’s her best work yet.

“It’s the most grounded and calm I’ve ever been making an album,” she says. “I worked with people I wanted to have dinner with, and I was like, ‘I’m not going to write every single day for months, but write a few days a week and have time to gather experiences and be a human being.’”

Shawn Mendes is one of the people she’s gathering experiences with. The two singers confirmed their relationship in September 2019, and they’ve been tabloid magnets ever since. Everything from their laughably slow pandemic walks to their kissing style is dissected with a fine-tooth comb. A clip of them getting ready for the Met gala went instantly viral.

Cabello tells me she and Mendes try to avoid the social media chatter about their relationship, but it inevitably seeps in. “When stuff that’s negative is out there, it’s going to get to you,” she says. “So yeah, that’s very, very challenging. I feel like it’s another thing therapy has been really helpful for.”

Mendes goes to therapy too. While Cabello says she and Mendes haven’t done couples therapy—though she’d be open to it—they very much work on their mental health together.

“For better, for worse, we’re very transparent with each other. I think that’s why we can trust each other so much, because it’s a very 3D human relationship,” she says. “I’ll be venting or ranting about something, and he’ll be like, ‘Have you talked to X about it?’ And I’ll be like, ‘No. I’ve got to do a session.’ And he’ll do the same thing to me. I think even just the language of being like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry that I’ve been distant with you or snappy with you. I’m just struggling and I’m feeling kind of anxious.’ That level of transparency really helps a lot.”

Mendes echoes Cabello’s thoughts. “Camila and I give each other an extreme amount of patience and understanding,” he tells me via email. “I think the truth is that when you’re struggling with mental health, it turns you sometimes into the version of yourself that you don’t like to be—and kind of loving and accepting your person through that, and being there for them through that, is life-changing. We give each other so much space and understanding and patience.”

A behind-the-scenes VMAs story perfectly illustrates this. When Cabello was nervous meeting new people at an after-party, she caught herself leaning on a habit she’s trying to break. Mendes helped her through it.

“I have this pattern of eating a lot when I’m anxious or uncomfortable,” she says. “It’s a comfort thing for me. I’ll just kind of become unconscious and zombie-eat a lot, and then I’ll feel sick. I’ve told Shawn about that. So at the VMAs party, I was like, ‘I’m doing it.’ And he was like, ‘It’s okay. You’re doing it. That’s okay. Let’s just take a breath and not do that.’ It’s really good for me to be able to talk about my patterns with someone.”

Food and body image are two things that have really been on Cabello’s mind this year. A July TikTok she posted shutting down body-shamers racked up 4.8 million likes. “Being at war with your body is so last season,” she says in the video, which she posted after photos of her running in Los Angeles made the rounds online.

That mantra is true, sure, but it’s easier said than done. Even Cabello has difficulty following it. She braced herself for what she might feel when those aforementioned bikini pics went live: “I need to work out. I need to eat better.” “Not that those things are bad,” she says. “But maybe I wouldn’t think about them as much if there weren’t people taking pictures of me.”

It’s not just the paparazzi who ignite moments of self-doubt. Cabello tells me about a time she was exercising with her trainer, Jenna Willis—who’s great, she says—and feeling insecure. “She’s the same height as me, and I was kind of comparing myself to her, because she is a lot skinnier than I am,” she recalls. “I was just like, ‘Yeah, but I’ve been working out and I look better, right? I look better, right?’”

It’s Willis who helped silence those voices in Cabello’s head, reminding her that how she feels is more important than appearances; that life is about balance and enjoying food. These are health philosophies we’ve all heard—but when you’re Camila Cabello and millions are picking apart your beach photos, it’s hard to tune out the noise. Now when she’s feeling down on herself, she just turns her phone off and goes outside.

“When I’m having negative thoughts about my body, that’s actually when I’ll want to binge-eat cookies, and then I have a stomachache,” she says. “It’s this weird psychology: The more I love my body, the more I actually want to take care of it…. As long as I’m healthy and working out and feel good, that’s the best I can do. There’s no point in trying to have another kind of body.”

By this point in our conversation, Cabello’s made it to her destination. When I ask if she’ll have time to chill and decompress, she says, “To be honest, not yet, but I will after this weekend.” There’s a calmness in her voice when she says this—a stillness, a readiness. She seems perfectly prepared for what lies ahead: album promo, performances, and undoubtedly more scrutiny about her body, her relationship, her everything. But she’ll be fine, because just around the corner is a day off. That’s nonnegotiable.

“It’s important to be on top of not just what’s making you sad or anxious, but also what’s giving you joy,” she says. “I want to be happy and enjoy my life. That’s kind of it.”

#camila cabello #shawn mendes #shawmila

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stylesnews · 4 years ago

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HARRY STYLES wore a dress. You may well know that already even if you don’t follow fashion or music closely. Photos of the British singer in the custom Gucci frock—snapped for the cover of Vogue—swarmed the internet a few weeks ago, sending his brigade of fans into a tizzy. Scads of tweets and online articles recycled the images. And while most of the coverage lauded Mr. Styles for his beguiling, gender-bending outfit, some conservative pundits including Candace Owens predictably wrung their hands, interpreting the hubbub as a death knell for the so-called “manly man.” The cover itself was a landmark: Mr. Styles is the first man to grace the cover of Vogue solo. Think of the instantly collectible issue as a coronation of sorts, confirming that the 26-year-old singer is now officially style-royalty.

Mr. Styles, who rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction before going solo, has been a fashion provocateur for several years now. A muse to Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, he consistently wears the label’s rather unisex wares such as tapestry print trousers, lithe loafers and pussy-bow blouses. (Representatives for the artist did not respond to a request for comment for this story and, through a representative, his stylist Harry Lambert declined to comment.)

On Instagram, feverish fan accounts like @Hsfashionarchive (which has over 100,000 followers) vie to identify whatever Mr. Styles is photographed wearing, from whimsically wide floral pants by British designer Steven Stokey Daley to a candy-colored necklace by New York jewelers Eliou. This year Mr. Styles topped the “Power Dressers” list on Lyst, a fashion-focused search platform, reflecting the strong correlation between his clothing choices and what online shoppers seek. Camilla Clarkson, communications director at Lyst, noted that Mr. Styles’s “non-binary style” helps drive his popularity, particularly with a younger generation that liberally shops across gender lines.

Some older observers, however, regard Mr. Styles’s fashion choices through a “been there, seen that” lens. “It’s kind of like this year’s version of rock-star packaging or something,” said Vincent Boucher, 67, a lecturer at Parsons School of Design in New York. As precursors, Mr. Boucher pointed to Kurt Cobain, Mick Jagger and David Bowie, all of whom donned dresses decades ago, nimbly crossing gender lines. (I’d add to that list the lesser-known, openly gay disco singer Sylvester, who frequently vacillated between men’s and women’s clothing—see the video for his 1978 number-one hit, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).”)

Mr. Styles’s Vogue cover elicited little more than “a shrug” from Andrew Groves, 52, a fashion professor at Westminster University in London. As Prof. Groves pointed out, when Bowie wore a dress in the early ‘70s, it was “really provocative because it was outside society’s norms.”

Even if Prof. Groves considers Mr. Styles’s floor-length dress unworthy of controversy, it did cause a several-day stir here in America that broke down largely along partisan lines. Alarmed conservative pundits tweeted lengthy screeds including Candace Owens, 31, a conservative voice who decried the “steady feminization of our men.”

Meanwhile, on her Instagram a few days later, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Mr. Styles’s Vogue shoot “wonderful” and confronted the criticisms: “Perhaps for some people it provokes some anger or insecurity around masculinity/femininity/etc. If it does, then maybe that’s part of the point. Sit with that reaction and think about it, examine it, explore it, engage it, and grow with it.”

Most male stars still avoid the risks associated with dressing too fashionably. Days after Mr. Styles’s Vogue cover was released, George Clooney graced the cover of GQ Magazine. The ensuing social-media conversation focused not on his (strategically inoffensive) clothes but on the affable star’s anecdotes. Mr. Clooney, in his immaculate knit polo and Ray-Ban sunglasses, surely looked great to many men of a certain age. But his look was hardly innovative, unlike those embraced by Mr. Styles and other dynamic, contemporary style icons like A$AP Rocky, Tyler the Creator and Jaden Smith.

Thanks in part to the internet and social media, which have given him an arguably wider sphere of influence than earlier gender-bending-fashion icons like Bowie or Cobain, Mr. Styles is turning receptive fans onto novel ways of dressing. “He’s a pioneer, really,” said Jordan O’Brien, 28, of Penngrove, Calif. Mr. O’Brien creates men’s-fashion videos, one of which, titled, “Recreating Harry Styles Iconic Outfits,” has been viewed over 123,000 times on YouTube. It shows Mr. O’Brien loosely following in his idol’s footsteps by wearing outfits like a lavender suit with a mesh-shirt.

Mr. O’Brien and other admirers I spoke with can’t afford the big-ticket Gucci and Bode clothes Mr. Styles endorses. Nor are they really interested in adopting his most avant-garde outfits. Instead, they attempt to channel the essence of his style and his flexible attitude. “I love how he breaks the boundaries,” of men’s fashion and shows that “people can wear whatever they want,” said Mr. O’Brien.

Kyle Jordan, 23, a barista in Barrington, N.J., studies Pinterest pages dedicated to Mr. Styles’s outfits. He’s adopted the singer’s penchant for broader pants and boxy button-ups and now has his eye on a pearl necklace which has for years been Mr. Styles’s signature. Lyst’s Ms. Clarkson noted that whenever Mr. Styles wears a given item—be it pearls, or a blue suit, or a yellow bucket hat—her site registers a jump in search inquiries for comparable items.

A rainbow-patchworked J.W. Anderson cardigan that Mr. Styles wore on the “Today” show in February is probably the item his fans have tried most zealously to duplicate. The technicolor sweater became an internet sensation, shared particularly widely on TikTok. But at $1,560 it was well outside most fans’ budgets, its idiosyncrasy extreme enough that good facsimiles were hard to find. So, in a rare instance in which a luxury fashion label bowed to the masses, J.W. Anderson released the pattern online so fans could knit their own version; cardiganed Styles copycats began posting their homemade iterations en masse. As for the original sweater? It’s heading to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London—acknowledged as a piece of fashion history.

#harry styles #dec20 #wall streeet journal

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tessandscottforever18 · 3 years ago

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Or so she thought. Somehow the paparazzi found out where she was for those 120 minutes. She didn’t see them at first, but there they were, snapping away.

Mendes goes to therapy too. While Cabello says she and Mendes haven’t done couples therapy—though she’d be open to it—they very much work on their mental health together.

“It’s important to be on top of not just what’s making you sad or anxious, but also what’s giving you joy,” she says. “I want to be happy and enjoy my life. That’s kind of it.”

#camila cabello #interview: glamour #glamour #glamour magazine

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tabloidtoc · 4 years ago

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National Examiner, January 25

Cover: Secret Dawn Wells took to the grave: her affair with Bob Denver of Gilligan’s Island

Page 2: Best and Worst Celeb Tippers -- Katherine Heigl, Amy Schumer, Drew Barrymore, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Madonna, Johnny Depp, Jay-Z

Page 3: Charlie Sheen, Ben Affleck, Sean Penn, Sharon Stone, Naomi Campbell, Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg took the 2020 Tip Challenge

Page 4: Goldie Hawn’s movie roles

Page 6: Melissa Gilbert who played Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie says if there’s one piece of unfinished business that emerged from the show it’s that she’d like to punch former co-star Shannen Doherty -- Shannen was only 12 when she joined the Little House cast for the show’s ninth and final season playing Jenny Wilder but in a couples therapy session with her first husband Bo Brinkman it came out that Shannen at 22 had bagged Bo in bed

Page 7: Country star Dolly Parton may be 75 year old but that doesn’t stop her from leaping out of bed at 3 a.m. every morning -- she’s a very very very early riser and she goes to bed pretty early but she’s up and down

* Tom Hanks has been in countless movies and TV shows but his most important role in life has been as a father of four and he has tips for how to do it right

Page 8: If you’ve soured on feeding canned dog food to your precious pooch you’re not alone -- plenty of owners are switching over to healthy people-food diets for their pets but it’s essential to get guidance from your veterinarian

Page 9: Most of your kitty’s diet should be a nutritionally complete cat food but you can give them a treat from your plate every once in a while -- you just need to know how to choose feline-friendly snacks with nutrients they need and which they should NEVER eat -- check with your veterinarian

* Why animals creep into our dreams -- we all dream about animals from time to time and here are some of the most common creatures of our nights and what they could be trying to tell us

Page 10: On his 21st birthday Matt Goodman raised a glass to his late father who had left behind the money to buy his son’s first beer

Page 11: Your Health -- the stark truth is that sleeping naked is good for you

Page 12: Top Guns -- these Hollywood stars were fastest on the draw -- James Garner, Henry Fonda, Eli Wallach, Burt Lancaster, Roy Rogers

Page 13: Kevin Costner, Yul Brynner, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, John Wayne

Page 14: Dear Tony, America’s Top Psychic Healer -- a lesson from COVID-19 which is work on mentally healing ourselves, Tony predicts Miley Cyrus will struggle to overcome many of her self-destructive habits, finding strength through religion and she will be back on the hit parade come summer

Page 15: If you and your partner fight a lot here’s a great idea to grasp: holding each other’s hand is the key to better conflict resolution

Page 16: Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton might be royals but they’re raising their children just like any other parents and family is their first priority and Will and Kate are rarely apart from their three kids Prince George and Prince Charlotte and Prince Louis

Page 18: Maggie the shelter stray was twice unlucky when two potential forever homes kicked her to the curb but now she’s found her true calling as a beloved K-9 officer

Page 19: A homeless man in Atlanta put his life on the line to rescue every single cat and dog from a blazing inferno at an animal shelter

Page 20: Cover Story -- a three-hour tour that turned into a three-season laugh-fest on Gilligan’s Island made Dawn Wells a star and she took the show’s juiciest secrets to her grave including a red-hot affair with co-star Bob Denver -- Dawn who died of complications related to COVID-19 at age 82 hid a crazy sexy side which she kept under wraps because it was the exact opposite of the squeaky-clean image se presented to the world as farm girl Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island

Page 22: This Michigan teen is a top Elvis Presley impersonator even performing in Las Vegas and the only one with Down syndrome

Page 24: Texas firefighters were hailed as heroes after they rescued a four-year-old boy who had fallen down a well

Page 25: Here’s the dirt on soil-free gardening

Page 26: Nice Work If You Can Get It -- celebs shell out stupid money for stupid jobs -- Rod Stewart travels with a room-darkening team, Lady Gaga hates to sleep alone and her personal assistant had to get in bed with her on nights when Gaga was solo, Larry Ellison likes to play basketball on his yacht and employs a person who job it is to circle it in a boat and retrieve stray balls from the ocean, Mariah Carey has a woman who stands beside her at all times holding a drink, Snoop Dogg pays a professional blunts roller, Prince Charles has a personal dresser, Justin Bieber’s entourage includes someone to hold his drink and another to hold his slice of pizza, Sean Combs has an assistant whose only job is to carry around an umbrella for him

Page 28: Burt Lancaster was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars acting in more than 70 movies during a four-decade-long career but he was also a silly practical joker says his daughter Joanna Lancaster one of the actor’s five children

Page 30: Legendary actress and dancer Ann-Marget will be 80 years old in April but she’s still stepping out and making movies -- you’re not dead when you reach a certain age said the star who shot to fame when she famously dated Elvis Presley when they made Viva Las Vegas in 1964

* Candice Bergen running wild and free at age 74 -- she recently became a first-time grandmother and is selling her hand-designed merchandise online

* What is Marie Osmond doing during the pandemic? She bought a Harley motorcycle and so did her husband Steve and they love to go riding together -- the twosome also take walks and see their kids and grandkids and stay busy and have fun

Page 42: All Washed Up -- surprising facts about bathing and showering

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Ellen DeGeneres goes for a spin in California (picture), Chrissy Teigen and John Legend take their kids Luna and Miles to watch planes make the tricky landing at St. Barts’ airport (picture), Joan Collins claims she once gave Bobby Kennedy the brush off because neither of them was single at the time, George Clooney can’t bear the thought of his early film Grizzly II seeing the light of day but it is set to be released later this year, Barry Gibb the last living member of The Bee Gees says life was incredibly hard after losing his brothers and bandmates Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb who died in 2012 and 2003, Ray Liotta and Jacy Nittolo engaged, Bob Seger paid tribute to saxophonist Alto Reed a longtime member of his Silver Bullet Band who lost his life to colon cancer

Page 45: Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla show off their walking sticks outside their home at Birkhall in Scotland (picture), Tori Spelling gets some puppy love from one of their pet pooches in L.A. with help from hubby Dean McDermott (picture), Megan Fox has moved on with Machine Gun Kelly and her estranged husband Brian Austin Green isn’t moping solo -- he vacationed in Hawaii with Sharna Burgess of Dancing with the Stars, British photographer David Bailey is dishing on his storied career in his memoir -- he claims sloshed Elizabeth Taylor tried to swipe his camera and his first impression of ex-wife Catherine Deneuve was that she was short and a bit on the fat side, Phyllis McGuire who shared the stage with her late siblings Dorothy and Ruby as the McGuire Sisters died in her lavish Las Vegas home -- she found fame through her voice and infamy through her relationship with Sin City mobster Sam Giancana

Page 46: Good-hearted sheriff’s deputies surprised a woman with a vehicle after they kept getting calls about her walking along the highway in the freezing cold each morning

Page 47: These UN Ambassadors use star power to help -- Emma Watson, Danny Glover, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Antonio Banderas, Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishburne, Mia Farrow, Katy Perry, Alyssa Milano

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yukiwrites · 6 years ago

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A Clumsy Addition

Thank you so much for commissioning me again, @arod7293! I hope you like it!

Summary: After seeing yet another child of ELise and Ryoma’s, Felicia and Azura feel the need to expand their family by one more member -- and the maid is happy to be the host for their baby this time. Young Arete is on her way!

Commission info HERE and HERE!

The kingdom of Hoshido was in a state of joy. Their small Queen Elise had been carrying King Ryoma's second child for the past nine months -- and even though it was her second pregnancy, the people's thoughts and prayers stayed with her since she was so tiny while Ryoma was a large man. They worried for their Queen's wellbeing during the entire pregnancy, but that came to an end the very day the royal family gained yet another family member -- a big baby girl with a loud voice and brown hair was born.

"We won't release her name until a while from now, but it's fine to tell you since you're my family!" Elise chirped happily as she welcomed her siblings for yet another baby shower. "She's Carmellia! Like the flower and like my beloved Big Sis, heehee!"

Well, 'welcomed' might not have been the right word: she was still in bed from the birthing, but, this time, Shiro welcomed the guests with a prideful puff of chest.

"Baby shistah, Shiro's." He would point to Carmellia's tiny futon, patting it so as to encourage people to sit closer so he could show his sister off to people.

Camilla cried a little after seeing her namesake cooing uncomfortably and adorably by her small cot. "And you named such a sweet little bun of adorableness after me? I'm unworthy, Elise!" She hugged her youngest sister, wanting to squeeze her dry, but mindful of her condition.

"Heehee... I don't think I'm still there yet in this 'motherhood' thing, so I always keep striving to be like you, Big Sis. I hope naming this little one after you will give me the strength I need to be their guiding light." Elise said awkwardly, smiling softly as she caressed her baby's fluffy cheek. "I just want them to do a good job in raising them like you did with me."

"Oh, my darling!" Camilla sniffled, pressing her forehead on Elise's. "You've already grown so very much since we were young; surely you are already an outstanding mother to these little meat buns. Aren't I right, Shiro-bun?"

The toddler flashed a wide, toothless grin, nodding vehemently. "Uh-huh! Mommy's best Mommy!"

"Shiroooo!" Elise sobbed, snatching her son from his seat to give him a bear hug.

"A-Azuraaaa!" Felicia hiccupped from the door, not wanting to disturb the adorable display of familial love. "I don't know how to announce ourselvess! Everything is s-so cute!"

The princess patted her wife's shoulder, her heart warm from watching the scene unfold. "We will have our opportunity, hm?" She looked down to the toddlers by their feet.

Shigure held onto Felicia's skirt as Linnea stood in front of Azura, both of them watching Shiro being manhandled by his mother and aunt.

Suddenly, Linnea raised her hand as though asking for permission to speak, though she waited for none and spoke anyway. "Lin' too! Huggies, Mommy!" She raised her other arm, stumbling over her own chubby feet to turn around to Azura.

"Shi-Shigure too..." The boy held onto Felicia's leg, pouting visibly.

Both mothers clutched their hearts in adorableness, bending down to pick their children up. "What spoiled little children we have here!" Azura giggled, booping Linnea's nose. The little girl giggled enthusiastically, hiding in her Mommy's shoulder. Shigure looked from his sister to Felicia, his eyes shining expectantingly.

The maid blushed deeply, her heart being maimed by the cuteness of her children. "W-what a spoiled little child w-we have here...!" She stuttered, embarrassed, booping Shigure's nose right after.

The toddler smiled brightly, giggling into his Mama's shoulder. "Heeheee, MAMA'S the best Mama." He said loud enough for the whole room to hear, catching Elise's, Camilla's and Shiro's attention.

The young High Prince puffed his cheeks. "It's MOMMY!" He struggled to disentangle himself from Elise, jumping on the wooden floor.

"Mama!" Shigure didn't even look to Shiro, holding onto Felicia instead. The maid, on her part, was on the verge of having a crying fit due to how utterly cute her child was.

"Mommy!!" Shiro stomped on the floor, his chubby cheeks so stuffed it looked like he had overeaten.

"Yeah! Mommy!" Linnea kicked her feet by Azura's arms, pointing to the princess.

"Oh, my!" Azura gasped softly with a smile.

Shiro's brow furrowed deeply for a second or two, his small brain trying to understand what had happened, but soon a clicking sound could almost be heard inside his head. "MY Mommy!"

"Mine!" Linnea and Shigure said in unison, overwhelming the solo High Prince on the floor. His lips started trembling as his eyes shone with tears.

"MINE!" He stomped on the floor. "Mine, mine, mine!"

"There, now, Shiro! Be good to your cousins, please?" Elise tried to appease her son from her futon while Camilla giggled.

"Isn't it adora- oh, dear, we woke little Carmellia."

"Ah!" Shiro snapped out of it, quickly running towards his little sister. "I sorry! Big bro do shh now!" He panicked.

"Aww, you're already a full-fledged big brother now, aren't you, Shiro?" Elise pinched her firstborn's cheek before collecting Carmellia from her futon, intent on breastfeeding her. "Little Carmy's so lucky, isn't she?"

Shiro widened his eyes, his cheeks reddening with pride. "M-mhm! Shiro best big bro!" He nodded as he watched his mother coddle the little baby, poking her chubby arms gleefully. "Heehee...!"

"Maybe we should excuse ourselves for now," Azura said in a low voice so as not to upset the baby even more. "Forgive us for making a scene-"

"Oh, psh, Shiro's like that with everything!" Elise shook her head, adjusting Carmellia on her breast. "He's just like Ryoma, competitive about everything! Can you believe it? He's TWO!"

"Heehee," Felicia giggled, finding a place to sit. "Shiro's so energetic; just like Linnea." The maid put Shigure over her lap, criss-crossing her hands over his belly.

Azura watched how her wife got all mushy about the royal baby and smiled to herself, quietly sitting beside her. She put Linnea on the floor, the toddler immediately taking off to the futon so as to take a closer look at Carmellia.

She and Shiro exchanged some gibberish baby words, though it actually looked like they were understanding each other as they pointed from Shigure to Elise to Carmellia and finally to Camilla. It seemed like a very important discussion, so the adults simply sat back and watched them do their thing.

Despite their young age, it was surprising how well the three toddlers behaved in the presence of a smaller baby than themselves. Shiro made Linnea and Shigure sit in front of him as he spoke of something serious-sounding in their baby language, as though he were a teacher giving a lecture.

Felicia inadvertently took Azura's hand as they sat there, side by side in that room filled with motherly love. It was as though she was in a trance, watching that young Elise grow up into such a beautiful and caring mother.

It made the maid wonder if she ever could be like that, as well.

Of course, don't get Felicia wrong -- she was as much Linnea's and Shigure's mother as Azura, that was a fact.

But- but she... She wondered how it would feel to carry the fruit of hers and Azura's bond; to nurture it, bring it to life and be the first one to hold it after it was born... Somehow, she found herself thinking that it would be great to have another addition to their small and happy family.

And this time, she would be the one to get pregnant.

"Azura, I..." She whispered as the toddlers got along in the middle of the room.

The princess squeezed her wife's hand. "I am quite sure I know what you'll say, my love." She rested her head on Felicia's shoulder. "And I do think it would be such a great happiness I do not know how to cope with it."

Felicia teared up immediately, sliding one hand through her wife's back, holding her waist. "Oh, Azura...!"

They didn't need words.

Their bond was strong to the point of conveying their strongest feelings through it without so much of a conversation.

They would do it -- they wanted to have another bond child; to make their family even more wholesome than it already was. They would have a third child.

Since Linnea and Shigure didn't need breastfeeding nor constant attention during the nights, Felicia and Azura felt comfortable in leaving them behind for two days or three while they enclosed themselves inside the same DeepRealm that had welcomed them during Azura's pregnancy.

Of course, the twins couldn't be left alone, so they would spend this short week with their aunts Corrin and Rhajat, who happily volunteered to take care of the little ones. Well, Corrin happily volunteered as Rhajat simply smiled shyly under her bangs, always enjoying the presence of little children around her.

Felicia and Azura felt like newlyweds preparing for their honeymoon -- they clearly remembered how dream-like the first eight months of retreat inside the DR were.

Being only around each other, 24 hours a day, worrying only about what name to give to their little baby.

Of course, they would miss the twins terribly, so they would take some of their toys and baby clothes alongside their luggage so as to appease the hole the toddlers surely would leave in their hearts.

They thought about taking Shigure and Linnea with them, but were scared that the DeepRealm would rob them of their youth, much like what had happened to Rhajat and the other DR children. Azura and Felicia wanted their babies to grow up following the proper wheels of time, inside the real world they were born in.

Over the course of the next week, the wives decided on the smallests details, making sure to tell the twins that they would only go away for a short while and to be good children to aunt Corrin and aunt Rhajat.

"Lin be good! Mama and Mommy go!" Linnea saluted clumsily, too young to have eye-to-hand coordination as Shigure held onto her.

"Shigure too. No late, Mama. No late, Mommy." He pouted, already missing his mothers before they even started making their bags to go.

"We were blessed with such good children, weren't we, my love?" Azura picked Linnea up as Felicia did the same with Shigure, sharing a big and warm family hug.

"Mhm; and we're about to be blessed with yet another good girl or boy."

The ritual would be performed inside the DeepRealm, unlike before. After all, neither the wives nor the Queens wanted the children to witness their Mama fainting after being kissed by their Mommy; it would only bring unnecessary distress to their young, budding hearts.

"You know the drill," Rhajat handed each of them a ritual knife, placing a bowl over the table between them so as to collect the blood. "No need to be so nervous, alright? Last time, you almost fainted even though Azura was the one having her stamina sapped." The Queen Consort pointed to the eerily-calm maid.

"Oh, um," Felicia smiled, glancing from her wife to the bowl, then to the Queen Consort. "I think NOW I can understand what Azura felt that time, you know? She simply... trusted me. Trusted that I would be the first thing she would see when she woke up and that I would make sure to catch her; just like I do now."

"I'll make sure our heads don't bonk, either." Azura teased.

"T-that's mean! They didn't bonk that time..."

Rhajat snorted, pushing the bowl closer to them. "... I'll have your blood, now."

"Right," they said in unison, smiling at each other before cutting their wrists and watching the red liquid flow from their arms to the bowl for a short couple of seconds before the healing magic of the ritual knives kicked in and closed their wounds.

"Remember to-"

"Hold our hands, yes." Azura nodded, intertwining her fingers with her wife's closing her eyes. "Our bond will not lose, Rhajat."

"... I believe it." The Queen Consort whispered under her breath, taking the blood so as to add the potion -- the mixture once again turned into a bright shade of pink, signaling its success. "I wonder if mine and Corrin’s would reflect such a clear color... I'm somewhat jealous," she said to herself, but immediately shook her head, walking towards Azura. "This time, you'll be the one drinking it, then kissing your wife."

Azura groggily opened her eyes, the ritual already possessing both wives, sapping them of their strengths and zoning out their senses. She gulped the potion in one go, listening to the sound of her own rasped breathing.

So that's how Felicia felt the day they conceived -- the potion burned from her lips to her insides; it was a fire that could only be put down with the sweetness of her wife's taste. Azura caressed Felicia's cheek, pulling her towards her so they could share a kiss that felt like their first: wild, raw, with fire descending their throats as their bond enveloped them kindly.

They kissed deeply and slow, the hotness leaving Azura's body and entering Felicia's, the magic neatly taking its place in the maid's womb.

Felicia felt her legs give out, but Azura held her close by her waist, unwilling to let go; unwilling to let that kiss end.

The princess and the maid lost themselves in each other's arms until the consciousness left Felicia's body entirely, her mind drifting to their calm and loving future alongside their new child.

The maid woke up two days later over the very bed Azura had used years ago, during their first pregnancy.

"Pregnancy..." Absentmindedly, Felicia trailed her left hand to her stomach, wondering if she could feel something changing inside of her already.

Well, apart from the overflowing love for her wife, her body didn't feel much different than what she remembered; her right hand clasped with her wife's who slept right beside her.

So this was how Azura felt at that time. Such overflowing love! It took everything Felicia had not to start sobbing right there and then, just by watching her beloved sleeping soundly as she refused to let go of her hand.

"Azura..." Felicia whispered lovingly, lying on her side so as to take her wife's beauty in. "So this is how you felt that time..."

"Oh, my darling Felicia," Azura whispered as she slowly opened her eyes, brought back to the world of waking by her wife's voice. "I cannot describe the happiness I feel right now -- after having conceived our child into you; after physically feeling our bond envelop us kindly and lovingly as the ritual drew to a close... Our feelings are one, my love."

"Azura...!" Felicia sniffled, pressing their foreheads against one another as she caressed the princess' cheek. "I can't wait to meet our little one! I really, really can't wait!"

"I am so very much looking forward to spend these eight months in your presence only, my love." Azura whispered over Felicia's lips, taking them with the last of her breath. "I love you so, my Felicia."

"Mmph..." Felicia rolled her eyes in pleasure with the sudden kiss, shyly grasping her wife's nightgown, bringing her warm body closer. "I love you too, my dear Azura..."

The days, weeks and months that followed were each unique and filled with so much love they were fit to burst. Of course, there were their share of tears, as well -- the first time Felicia saw her bump grow, or the day she felt the baby move; or even the first time it kicked so hard it made her lose her balance. All of them were filled with happy tears, clumsy laughter and a lot of cuddling.

They read under the shade of trees, they shared their dreams under the covers before going to sleep; they napped into each other's arms by the fireplace once the weather got cold.

"Say, Azura?" Felicia caressed her seven-months stomach one evening, lying on one of the hammocks they had by the veranda.

"Hmmm?" Azura tilted her head to her wife, never taking her eyes off of the little pair socks she was sewing.

"Do... do you remember the day we went to visit Lady Elise's little girl?" The maid stuttered, her heart pounding by her chest. She had had this idea for the longest time, but could never find the right words to convey it to Azura.

"Of course I do, silly."

"Then... Do you remember how Lady Elise said that she wanted to borrow Lady Camilla's strength by naming little Carmellia after her?"

Finally seeing where her wife wanted the conversation to go, Azura put the crochet over her lap, raising her gaze to Felicia. "Mhm...?"

The maid blushed. "I- What do you think if we- um," she twiddled her thumbs awkwardly, "I also want to borrow the strength of someone I look up to but never had the chance to meet before and I... wanted to give this name to our baby if we're blessed with another girl."

Azura touched Felicia's hand, caressing it with her thumb. "Go on."

"Doyouthinkwecannameourdaughterafteryourmother,Arete?" Felicia said in one breath, panting right after.

The yarn ball and needles fell on the floor. "After Mother...?"

"Oh, um," Felicia glanced at the rolling yarn ball, then back at her wife. "Is that no goo-mmmph!" Azura silenced her wife with a surprise kiss, carefully holding her into her thing arms.

"Of course we can, my love! Oh, Mother, how I wish you were here to see this! The child of me and my beloved, named after the most important person of my early life... I didn't think I could feel this happy, and yet you always surprise me, Felicia!"

"Heehee," the maid giggled awkwardly, resting her cheek on her wife's. "I want little Arete to live happily, with a great name to protect her down the road."

"Yes... Oh, most certainly!" Azura sniffled, her wife's words moving her deeply. "I cannot wait to share these news to the world, my love...! One month to go and we can go back to our children and introduce them to their little sister...!"

"Though I also wanna stay here a bit longer with you..." Felicia pouted adorably, making Azura steal yet another kiss.

"We will be together always, my love. For as long as we live."

The following month came as quickly as it went, and soon the wives were back at the real world -- Felicia sporting a large and healthy bump.

"Mama fat!" Linnea blurted out the very moment they reunited, not even giving her mothers the time to hug her.

"M-Mama sick?" Shigure teared up, stumbling on his chubby legs to hug Felicia's.

Azura laughed heartily, crouching down to pat their twin's heads. "You two remember how Shiro turned into a big brother, hm?" She asked, receiving two confused nods in return. "Well, you will be big siblings too! Mama is holding your little sister inside her tummy until she's big enough to leave."

"MAMA’S TUMMY WARM?!" Linnea gasped loudly, running towards the already sitting Felicia. "Warm!" She touched her mother's knee, the highest she could reach from down the floor.

"Mhm! Your little sister is nice and cozy here," Felicia tapped her stomach. "You'll meet her soon!"

"Shigure big bro?" He gripped at Azura's dress. The princess nodded, picking both toddlers up so she could sit on the bed, beside her wife.

"Yes, you will be soon."

"I think we arrived just in time for the public announcement of Carmellia's name, right? Wait, is that right? We spent eight months in there for us, but only a week passed here, yeah...?" Felicia looked up in confusion.

"Indeed; I'm quite sure our presence will be required at the temple later this week. Do you want to go? I do not want you to push yourself..."

"I wanna go! I wanna see little Carmellia again; and I wouldn't want to deny Lady Elise's invitation! I'm still at my eighth month, so I'm fine!" She made a flexing movement and smiled.

"Very well, then we shall attend. I was told Forrest would bring ceremonial kimonos to the whole family."

"T-the toddlers included?" Felicia blushed.

Azura nodded in understanding. "The toddlers included."

"Awawawa... I can't wait to see them wearing miniature kimonos, aah!" She squealed in delight, pinching her own cheeks.

They've barely come back and were already thrown into the rushing pace of real life! Phew!

The weekend came quickly, and soon it was time for them to attend to the traditional ceremony at the temple: Elise would gong the central bell three times and offer a prayer to the Dawn Dragon, revealing the princess' name to it first and foremost before announcing it to the people right after.

Azura, Felicia, the twins, Corrin, Rhajat, Camilla and the others would be inside the temple in their designated seats, waiting for the people outside to calm their clamors before the private ceremony could begin and a priest could bestow the Dawn Dragon's blessings upon Carmellia.

While Elise and Ryoma were outside, Felicia moved uncomfortably in her hakama (wearing a proper kimono was out of question due to how large her belly was, after all), wondering if she could take it off on her own for a quick bathroom break.

"Azura, Azura!" Felicia whispered gravely to her wife. "I need to pee so bad, please cover for me a bit, okay? Ahh, my bladder..." She stumbled on her feet without waiting for her wife's response, quickly making her way into the far-reaching corridors of the temple.

"Do you need help with-" Azura said tentatively, but Felicia was too fast, "the hakama? Heehee, oh well."

"Mama pee a lot..." Linnea noted, looking around.

"Indeed. That happens when you have to protect a baby inside you." Azura patted her daughter's head, her gaze falling on the uproar outside.

Elise and Ryoma came back after a few more minutes, two servants quickly closing the large double doors behind them. "Phewww, I didn't remember this being so exhausting the first time!" Elise leaned on her husband, too tired to keep walking straight.

"Do not push yourself so, my tiny Queen. It was only last week that you gave birth."

"Yeahh... It really is tiring, but I gotta do it! No, I WANNA do it!"

Azura giggled at her little sister's enthusiasm, wondering at the back of her mind where in the world Felicia had gotten to.

Maybe she got lost? She IS clumsy enough for that... What if she got lost on her way to the latrines? Poor thing, she wanted to go so badly! Perhaps Azura herself should go...

But then the twins would worry, not to mention how rude it would be to the priest for her to leave. Maybe wait a few more moments before excusing herself?

The moment she opened her mouth to speak, she heard a quiet sniffling beside her. Widening her eyes, Azura noticed how Shigure sobbed silently, holding his knees.

"Shigure? My son, what's the matter?"

"Id-id hurds, Mommy...!" He hiccupped, opening his arms to hug Azura's waist.

"Where does it-"

"Mommy..." Linnea started feeling nauseous as well, tears washing down her cheeks.

Azura felt a hollow pit engulf her from inside, cold sweat streaming down her temple and back. What WAS this terribly bad feeling? It was as though a cold hand was plucking her inner organs one by one, throwing them into the pit.

"Felicia...?" She didn't hear her own voice whispering.

A door to the left opened with a bang, a hurried soldiers quickly making his way to Ryoma. "M-My Lord, a prisoner's escaped the dungeons! We managed to track him down here, but we lost him after he went into the temple!"

Azura's heart froze. A prisoner? "Who was it?" She got up, her legs moving without her meaning to. "Who was this prisoner?"

The soldier hesitated, glancing from the princess to the King. "Um, it was Ka'lik, my Lady..."

The princess' ears deafened, a thin and loud ringing sound making her consciousness waver. "Felicia... Felicia!" She turned around quickly, "please take care of the twins for me!" And left through the same door Felicia had used previously.

Dumb, idiot! How could you have let your heavily pregnant and clumsy wife wander around an unfamiliar temple without an escort?! Oh, Felicia, please be alright-

Azura ran through a series of corridors, each turn she took looking exactly the same as the previous one. "Felicia... Felicia!" She panted, the desperation in her voice making her entire body tremble.

"Because of you! I've been rotting in jail! You stupid maid!" A faint yet familiar voice reached Azura's ears.

"I don't care what you do to me, but don't touch my baby!" Felicia barked back, her voice sapped of strength.

"Felicia!" Azura hissed, turning the last corner.

"A-Azura! Don't come! He has a knife!"

Azura didn't hesitate. "And I have water." Without even losing her pace, the princess dove right into Ka'lik, summoning a large amount of water so as to envelop Ka'lik's head with it, intent on drowning him without mercy.

"Grghl!" The man gurgled, letting go of Felicia as he helplessly gripped at his own throat for air. Azura pushed him out of the way, not even sparing him a glance as his body shook with convulsions while he drowned with the round bubble of pure water covering his entire head.

"Felicia! Felicia, oh, my love; what did he do to you?!"

"S-save our baby, Azura..." The maid said faintly, looking down at the middle of her legs -- she bled.

Ka'lik had approached her from behind and kicked her several times before taking out his knife, but Felicia made sure to always keep her back to him so he wouldn't touch hers and Azura's baby.

"F-Felicia, stay with me," Azura lost the color of her face, dreading seeing her wife bleeding to death once again. "Stay with me, Felicia!"

"We'll need to deliver the baby as soon as possible." Were the midwife's first words the moment Felicia was brought in. "I have a birth-inducing medicine in the ready, so I'll need everyone but my assistants to leave-"

"I'm not leaving her." Azura gripped at her wife's hands with all of her strength. "I'm not leaving my wife."

The midwife turned to make the medicine, "then you'll have to do everything we say."

"Of course."

It would be a difficult birthing -- Felicia wasn't entirely conscious for the most part, and the healers couldn't focus their staves on her because that would also heal the birth-inducing medicine AND the wounds the baby would make while coming out.

She would need to feel the pain from start to end, but Azura wouldn't let her feel it alone. She would be there, holding her hand, the entire time.

"Don't leave me, Felicia; don't leave me..." The princess chanted the whole time, for the next five hours. She refused to move, eat or speak to anyone, simply focusing on her tired and weak wife. "You can do it, my love. Push just a bit more, okay? For our baby. For us. F-for me." She sniffled after the sixth hour, finally showing something akin to desperation.

Arete's loud crying filled the room with happiness and worry in equal amounts -- the most critical time would be now: they would need to work their staves tirelessly on Felicia to mend the wounds Ka'lik infused her as well as to stop the bleeding from the birthing.

"Can you hear it, Felicia? It's our daughter. It's as though we knew it would be a girl... It's Arete, Felicia. She's here with us. Can you hear it?" The princess' hands trembled as the midwife washed the baby, hesitant in giving it to the broken princess. She wasn't in a state to hold a little baby-

"Give- give her to me... My baby... I wanna hold her first, Azura..." Felicia tried and failed to lift her hand towards the crying sound, turning her head to the sides, delirious.

"Felicia! Oh, my love!" Azura's eyes regained their shine. "You did it, my Felicia, you delivered our daughter!" She quickly looked at the midwife, nodding for her to bring the baby closer.

It was like magic.

The moment Arete was placed over Felicia's chest, the maid regained her color, the forces she thought sapped coming back for the very reason of embracing her little baby.

"Your voice is so strong, Arete... I'm sure you'll be a great singer, like your Mommy." Felicia smiled, placing a tender kiss over the small head. Arete stopped crying slowly, the constant beating of her mother's heart under her soothing her into her first sleep.

"Felicia!" Azura cried, pressing their foreheads together. "I thought I had lost you, oh, my love!" She sobbed, her warm tears falling over Felicia's lips.

"P-please don't cry, Azura... You'll set me off too..." The maid pressed her lips into a thin line. "I'd rather you kissed me-"

"As many times as there are stars in the skies, Felicia." Azura quickly placed a soft peck on Felicia, followed by another, then yet another one. "Do not scare me like that ever again, you hear?"

"I may need more kissing for that..." Felicia teased, her breath intertwining with Azura's.

"I can provide," the princess smiled, opening her mouth for a deep and much-needed kiss.

The maid closed her eyes to enjoy her wife's taste, weakly lifting her hand to caress Azura's face. "Thank you for being here with me, Azura. I love you so much..."

"So do I, my dear Felicia... So do I."

#feliciazura #felicia #azura #fire emblem fates #fanfic commissions #my writings #Yuki's Commissions

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feheroestips · 7 years ago

Photo

STUCK ON WHO TO SUMMON? WHATS THE BEST COLOUR? DO YOU NEED THE UNIT? AND MORE

So the ‘third’ hero fest is coming up and features 12 unique 5 star characters! The following being Ike, Celica, Ayra, Deirdre, Hector, Spring camilla, Bridal Caeda, Spring Xander, Fjorm (new character), Genny, Bridal Cordelia and Brave Lyn.

So besides a new character and 4 old limited edition units, this banner has a 8% pull rate along with no normal 5 star pull rate meaning, there are only 12 summonable 5 stars meaning you have a very good chance of getting who you want, with each colour having 3 units.

So who to aim for first? Best to worst? Is it possible with F2P orbs?

Well to answer this first off I’m going to give you the summon rates for this banner (I did a lot of maths for this so please spare my soul)

Summon rates

That document shows the rate to pull any singular hero on this banner. The only units not accounted for are Lute, Mia and Dorcas, as its impossible to say whether or not they will be demoted for sure, or even for this banner. No matter who does it’ll make very little difference.

Well I’ll quickly go over the important stuff here. On the spreadsheet, those in the big table shows the rate to pull any 1 hero from any one singular orb. The second, first small table shows the amount of star rated characters in a�� bracket, the second shows the percentage rates (I assumed Hero fest rates for the 4/3 stars). The next table shows the rate of pulling and star ranked unit in a full summon, For example if you did a full summoning session, reds provide the most 4 stars, while green produce the least. Meanwhile the vice versa is true for 3 star units.So normally there’s a 5 star pull but since it’s skipped and just a focus, it means surprise its 8% to summon one of these focus units. 2% for each colour and 0.6~% for each unit.

However the last table shows solo picking, a method where you pick one colour orb and quit afterwards once you’ve pulled all that colour. The rates for 5 stars are as follows

Red = 9.677419355 % Blue = 10.34482759 % Green = 14.28571429 % Colourless = 11.11111111%

This means if you just want 5 stars you should pull green orbs first, then colourless, followed by blue and finally Red. (Btw this applies to all 3 units in a colour, for a specific one just divide by 3)

So for those who just wanted the best colour to pull as a f2p player, the answer is green. However if you want to know if its worth the heroes or not continue reading.....

Red

The red pool features Celica, Ike and Ayra as their 5 star pulls, and is arguably the best pool in terms of unit versatility, as all these units can play offence or defence. Celica is a incredibly deadly mage with the ability to hit incredible offensive power or tank mages depending on her A slot, however it also means she can’t do both at the same time. She also has a amazing tome in ragnarok. She’s a highly suggest pool for anyone wanting a red mage. Ike is essentially bulky Ryoma, Able to hit hard and defend well, however he lacks the speed he wishes he has and is stuck being mainly enemy phase. He’s a very good sword user though. Finally there is Ayra and she is the best sword unit in the game, she makes the red pools low chance worth it.

Should you pull?

If you need a good sword user or mage the answer is yes, or even just for Ayra, if you miss her the other two are still s tier and above. at 3.2% on just red pulls its worth the summon for the one you want.

Blue

I’m sad to say Blue is the weakest colour on the pull. Even if Fjorm turns out to be amazing, you get a free 5 star of her in the game after beating chapter 1 of book 2. Meaning unless you want ivs there is little reason. However it does boast 2 limited units being Bridal Caeda and Spring Xander. Bridal Caeda is a fast blue mage but like her normal counterpart she lacks attack to be a truly terrifying unit, shes still amazing if you get her as a blue mage but not the best. Spring Xander however is mostly outclassed by every other lance user, while he does have some niches, they are normally done by someone else still a limited unit as well.

Should you pull?

Unless you want the limited units, blue is the least of you’re concerns if looking for the best 5 stars. However Fjorm might be amazing though even then compared to the other groups...

Green

Okay so listen up Green has a HUGE PULL RATE nearly as high as that wyvern banner we had a few months ago (where all 4 units where green) Greens low pool means the 5 stars appear more often. Hector of course, is Hector and truly Amazing. Deirdre is a amazing magic wall, however if you have Julia, she’ll be able to fulfill the same role soon due to the upgrade system. Basically its if you like more bulk over attack between the two but both are solid regardless, while the final unit is Spring Camilla. A green mage flier, who if you missed out on summer Corrin and can’t be asked with Nowi, she is a great unit to have. Especially as gronnraven lets her tank bows.

Should you pull?

Yes, Green is almost always worth it, unless you have these heroes or don’t care for them Green is always gonna reward you when you hit the jackpot.

Colourless

So this is my pick for the best pulls, and yes its not colourless hell for once, more colourless heaven. Basically you have the two best archers, if not the best two units in the game, in Brave Lyn and Bridal Cordelia. They are essentially the same unit bar Lyn has a horse, and less attack while Cordelia has more Attack but is infantry. The final option is Genny who is one of the best healers in the game, but also comes with wrathful staff meaning anyone who wants to make another healer good can get this skill. Basically its worth it no matter what. Providing a 7.4% chance to get a archer and also has the second highest 4* chance, it means you’ll only go wrong if you pull a 3 star.

Should you pull?

YES BY GOD ALMIGHTY IF YOU DON’T HAVE A ARCHER NAB ONE OF THESE TWO.

That wraps it up though, if you want my advice I’d pull Colourless > Green > Red > Blue, green and red can be swapped but green has the higher rate,. While pulling every orb is solid, I’d suggest picking a colour to at least get someone you want first and then pull the rest if you pull a 5 star in a batch.

Anyway I hoped this help, and please spread this around I spent a lot of time on this

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wdwimagine · 7 years ago

Text

jingle ball - JM.

pairings: reader x jonah marais

warnings? nope.

summary: you were supporting your boyfriend at one of his shows on the Jingle Ball Tour, and certain events made you feel upset.

requested? sorta. i was given the idea by someone who im not entirely too sure if they want their name to be put out. but they know who they are! thank you!

MSG. Madison Square Garden. My boyfriend was performing at the MSG tonight, for the first time, with his band, who have only been together for a little bit over a year. Life is crazy.

I pulled up outside of the arena in my Uber, just seeing the stadium being filled with people was enough to make me want to cry. Words will never be able to say how proud I am of Jonah, and obviously the other boys. I sent a quick text to Jonah so that someone could come and get me.

I stood by the back door for a minute, before I was met with the face of David. He gave me a lanyard that I would put on so that people backstage knew I was a guest of Why Don’t We. We walked towards their ‘green room’, David opened the door and I was surprised to see that it was filled to the brim with the boys, their crew and their families.

“(y/n)!” Jonah said walking over to me. Unfortunately his family couldn’t make it but luckily I could. He walked over to me and engulfed me in a hug, I hadn’t seen him for the longest time and now that I could finally hold him again made it so much better. I gave him a quick peck before greeting everyone else in the room. There is so many people.

The show was about to start, so everyone who wasn’t Why Don’t We and their crew left to go to their seats. I wished the boys good luck before leaving with Christina, Ashley and Corbyn’s mom. We did have seats that we were meant to sit in but we decided to go to the front and thankfully no one stopped us. Perks of being a guest of the band.

———

The boys were about to come on stage and I thought I was going to pass out. So far, I had died a little bit whenever a new artist came on stage, I screamed like I’ve never screamed before and I may have cried at Niall Horan. The lights dimmed and I screamed, so loudly. I think Christina, Ashley and I’s screams combined, as well as the rest of the Why Don’t We family who are now at the front, made everyone around us deaf.

I shed a tear of proudness when I saw the boys silhouettes go to their respective places. The intro gave me goosebumps, the lights, the atmosphere, it was great.

“That’s our boyfriends!” I yelled, recording Jonah and Corbyn as well as Christina. Everyone was a blubbering mess, screaming loudly. Everyone had their phones out recording as Corbyn began to sing Air of the Night.

When Jonah’s solo began I screamed so loudly I think I pulled a muscle in my neck. I was so unbelievably proud. Not only of Jonah but all of the boys. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and facetimed Esther so that their family can watch Jonah perform at MSG.

When they started singing Nobody Gotta Know I lost my shit a little bit. Anyone who was around us, not knowing who we are probably thought that we were batshit crazy. I turned around to Anna, both of us clung on to each other, smiling from ear to ear as we watched my boyfriend and her brother perform. Nobody will ever be able to put into words how unbelievably proud we are, how proud all of us are.

They finished their set with These Girls, I screamed my head off and definitely lost my voice. Corbyn blew Christina and his family a kiss, tapping all of the other boys so that they could do the same. I looked over to Jonah who sent me a wink and blew a kiss at me. I blushed like crazy because somehow this boy still managed to make me fall in love all over again no matter what he did.

———

Everyone decided to go backstage to greet the boys, I followed Christina and Ashley as we walked back to their green room. We got to their room before them because they had a couple of interviews to do, so I waited outside their room in the hallway with the whole Seavey family plus Sydnie, Ava and Makena.

I saw them in the distance, beaming like they had just won the lottery, but in their eyes I imagine that’s what it feels like to them. The were talking excitedly amongst themselves until they were interrupted. They were interrupted by the one and only Camilla Cabello.

They were closer but still at a distance where I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I watched smiling because I knew that this would make their night, speaking to someone who they regarded as famous. I instantly saw Jonah’s face light up, which was okay because that’s his celeb crush. They hugged but I didn’t think anything of it because she hugged all the boys.

They spoke to each other and I almost choked on my own spit when I saw her wrap her arms around Jonah’s back. Even though she was talking to all the boys. They were all laughing amongst each other, smiles never leaving their faces. Whenever Camilla spoke she always made sure to stare up at Jonah, even placing her free hand on his chest. I know I shouldn’t be jealous right now, but when your boyfriends celebrity crush was lowkey flirting with them it made me feel bad about myself. Camilla is so much more prettier than me, making me fear the worst which was absolutely ridiculous. My smile left my face as they all stood there talking. I don’t know why I’m jealous but I am. She’s touching my man. I sound psychotic.

They all took a group picture and once again I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the fact that she had her arm wrapped around Jonah’s back, leaning her head towards them as they smiled at the camera. I tried hard not to roll my eyes when she hugged them all goodbye, giving Jonah two hugs. I put on a smile when I saw the boys walk over to all of us now, smiles radiating off of them.

All the boys went straight to their respective families, Jonah coming straight towards me. He immediately wrapped his arms around my waist, picking me up off of the ground, holding me tightly.

“Well done, babe!” I said into his neck. “I’m so proud of you!”

“I feel like I’m on cloud nine!” He said putting me back down on the ground. He made sure to hold me close though. I tried so hard not to be annoyed at everything that I just saw, but it was like a voice in the back of my head, making me feel self conscious. “We bumped into Julia Michaels backstage and she said that it was crazy that only a couple of months ago she was introducing our song on the radio for the very first time, and now we’re performing at MSG. And then we actually performed which was so surreal and then we just met Camilla again and she was so nice and said that we were awesome. My life feels complete.”

“That’s so great!” I smiled. He gave me one last hug before we both entered the green room and I congratulated all the boys. I ended up going back to watch the show with Anna and the Seavey’s, allowing the boys to have some down time to themselves. They also had to do a couple more interviews so there was no point in us staying backstage. I also thought that this would be a great time to forget about every negative thought I was thinking and focus on the positives. But no matter how hard I tried, I always thought that I was so much more worse than Camilla, and that Jonah didn’t love me anymore and that I can’t give him anything.

———

I ended up going backstage towards the end of the show, where all the boys and their families were unwinding from the high we had just been on. I walked into the room and immediately caught Jonah’s eye. He patted his knee so I took this as my cue to walk over and sit on his lap, especially because there was no where else to sit.

He wrapped his arms around me and leaned his head on my shoulder. I turned my head to face him and couldn’t help but smile at his stupid pouting face. He grinned back at me and gave me a kiss on the lips. I’m so in love with him.

“You okay?” He whispered in my ear. The room was so loud so the only way we could communicate with one another was if we actually spoke into each other’s ears. As weird as it sounds.

“Yeah.” I replied. “I’m really proud and happy for you!”

“Really?” He asked skeptically. “Ever since we came off stage you’ve been quiet, which isn’t normal for you.”

“It’s nothing, Jonah.”

“(y/n)? What is wrong? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s so stupid.” I mumbled putting my head into my hands. “I saw Camilla Cabello looking kinda flirty with you and it made me jealous because she’s so much more prettier than me, and she has so much more to offer you. It just made me feel self conscious.”

“(y/n).” Jonah laughed ever so slightly. “Yes, she’s my celebrity crush but you are my girlfriend and not even she can top that. I honestly don’t know why she had her arm around me the whole time but I thought it was innocent. I guess my mind was foggy because I had just come off stage after performing at MSG. You shouldn’t be jealous because honestly when she was speaking I could barely concentrate on what she was saying because I wanted to tell you how awesome it was.”

“God I’m such an embarrassment.” I said blushing. I don’t know why I ever got self conscious because Jonah loves me and no one else.

“Don’t be embarrassed.” He said giving me a kiss on the cheek. “If I saw Niall Horan talking to you like that I would’ve gotten jealous too.”

“Maybe we should just talk more about these things?” I suggested.

“Agreed.” He smiled at me, pointing his pinky finger out at me. I interlocked my own pinky with his, pecking him on the lips once more.

But we was interrupted when David burst into the room to say that Taylor Swift invited the boys to her dressing room. I was almost pushed off of Jonah’s lap.

“See you in a bit babe!” He said walking towards the door after the other boys. “I love you!”

“I love you too, Jonah.”

a/n: short and sweet. not the best but oh well.

#jonah marais #jonah marais imagines #jonah marais imagine #why dont we #why dont we imagines #why don’t we #why don’t we imagines

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rockymountaingothic · 8 years ago

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yo o o whats happening

I think a Guy Ritchie Raffles movie would be good ?

I don’t think he’s gonna, because ultimately it’s too similar to sherlock holmes which he’s already doing great with. But if he did, out of necessity it would walk talk and shoot gun differently. Probably more in the vein of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. with the expensive clothes and cars and high stakes sneaking around (napoleon solo even has the thief background so hyeah if you didn’t like his holmes adaptations pls go watch that)

And that would be amazing, right??? Holy fuck the dude makes crime movies /it’s what he does/ i would absolutely kill to see him take on /the gentleman thief/ archetype the way he took on /the secret agent/ in the man from uncle. here are some things raffles has that he has already demonstrated great use of in his other films

Morally ambiguous characters

Characters who are unbelievably good at one thing, usually a crime thing, and are flawed in almost every other way

Assholes who do shitty things but are so charming you can’t help but root for them

Usually because they’re up against someone who’s also on the wrong side of the law but also kills puppies or whatever, y’know. worse than them in some way

Narration

Card game scenes

CRIMES

Say what you will about RDJ as Holmes but that depiction of Victorian England kicks my ASS EVERYtime i watch game of shadows

So with that in mind here are some things I could see him doing and basically my version of a good Raffles adaptation by Guy Ritchie, and me, AJ

The movie starts with Wilful Murder, told as a pretty short introduction sequence. this shows us what their lives are like - as well as sets up the main conflict of the movie; their reputations are constantly in danger because of their activities. Raffles likes to think he isn’t above killing to prevent their exposure, and Bunny would follow him anywhere. But there’s no tension or suspense, because they fuck up climbing over the fence, they fuck up breaking the window, and they both trip over Angus Baird’s body and are extremely relieved like oh thank god.... thank fucking god he’s already dead (we realise yeah... these guys are kinda fuckin it up at the burglar thing...)

from upstairs, somebody shoots at them and BAM! TITLE SEQUENCE! Full of still frames and short slow mo clips of them rushing away from the house pursued by a gang of ruffians who had other beef with angus baird over idk a franz ferdinand song or something like that? what do the kids listen to these days. there are explosions, not sure why

dunno what the plot is but it involves at least three break ins, each zanier than the last, it probably takes some notes structure wise from Mr Justice Raffles but eh

Raffles probably has a threesome with Teddy and Camilla? just sayin

Inspector Mackenzie is there in like, a zenigata capacity and SHE’S BEAUTIFUL

Bunny does some voiceover but get this, it’s in the context of letters he’s writing to Miss Carruthers because that sounds like some movie shit they’d do! right!! she’s in the movie and she has a GUN

They play card games because it’s a guy ritchie movie but maybe we can work in that adorable thing from the show where the stakes are candy-based . huff. hff. charactersizaation.

I think Raffles’s sister helps them get out of a jam mid-movie. I’m just throwing in all the ladies i can

Cursing ( a lot )

Did i mention gun

JUST watch me I’m gonna write this whole thing just to prove a guy ritchie style raffles movie could be good

Bunny doing a voiceover of some burglary shop talk, explaining in detail how something is supposed to work, then as we see them doing it everything goes completely wrong and along with being funny as fuck its very becoming of Bunny as an unreliable narrator

a shot that shows you the inside of a lock as it’s being picked probably

like a slow motion fight scene between two people who don’t really know how to fight would be pretty great lmao

and then it ends with a gift of the emperor/knees of the gods style sacrifice and we realise Raffles was a selfish dick, but in the end he helped Bunny in the only way he could: by removing himself from his life

and Bunny is having a moment by himself like dear god he really did care and Raffles crashes through a window and dusts himself off like “back”

Roll credits

The best thing about what he does when he adapts is that he takes stuff like the characters and setting of the whodunit holmes stories and spy/action man from uncle and gives them a sense of humor about what they are- so yeah, maybe when you think about sherlock holmes your first thought isn’t greasy iron man kicking a guy so hard he flies 20 feet backwards through a boarded window and into a lake (and lives!) but fuck- I like sherlock holmes, I don’t really care for action blockbusters, but for some reason when you combine them it’s entertaining as all get out. And of course it’s not like the books, because that would be boring. And if anyone adapted Raffles in a way that was exactly like the books it would be boring.

Because the books are comprised of two things: One, very technical, concise descriptions of the way things happened, and two, how Bunny, as the narrator, felt about them. One being something movies are very good at showing, and two being something movies are certainly capable of with a very sensitive, emotional director like Lynne Ramsey but like... NOT guy ritchie, for sure. But if you want a Raffles movie, do you WANT something sensitive and nuanced? Do you want a heartfelt exploration of a younger man’s changing vision of the man he met in his youth as he finds himself manipulated into a life of crime or whatever? maybe but ... i dunno that sounds boring to me. maybe as a short film i could handle it

but like the real thing is “I want a fun movie and I want to see these characters I love brought to the cinema as it is in this day and age in a manner which i feel is true to the original nature of the stories and reminds me why I love them” and not turned into something which to me is barely recognizable from the source material

and if you don’t like ritchie’s holmes adaptations that’s probably why. Personally, i think Game of Shadows is a wonderful film and one of the best adaptations of a Professor Moriarty story, defs my favorite. Plus Rocknrolla and Snatch are some of my favorite movies and thinking about a Raffles adaptation with all the fun and charm and excitement of those gets me SO PUMPED UP

But also I know if it’s hollywood imma be disappointed. good thing its never happening?

you know what would definitely suck though? a wes anderson raffles. lmao holy shit

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thegloober · 6 years ago

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RIFF 2018: Woman at War, Jonas Mekas Exhibition and Camilla Strøm Henriksen on Phoenix

by Matt Fagerholm

October 8, 2018 |

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“You know who would’ve loved this movie? Roger Ebert!” declared Anne Hubbell, founder of Tangerine Entertainment, during our chat at the Reykjavík International Film Festival. She was discussing Yann Gonzalez’s cheerfully blood-spattered melodrama “Knife + Heart,” and I couldn’t help agreeing with her, considering Ebert’s love of Brian De Palma and bold genre mash-ups including his own, “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.” A day after I posted my enthusiastic review of the picture, Hubbell and her fellow jury members gave “Knife + Heart” RIFF’s top prize—the Golden Puffin, awarded to first or second-time directors—praising Gonzalez’s ability to defy labels “using confidence, humor and a thrilling juxtaposition of love and loss.” Earning a Special Mention was “Styx,” Wolfgang Fischer’s riveting thriller about the refugee crisis that is still in the running for the LUX Prize, presented in November by the European Parliament. Nominated alongside it is Benedikt Erlingsson’s “Woman at War,” a superlative example of Icelandic cinema, showcasing not only the landscape’s distinctive beauty but also its inherent drama.

Through various tourist sites are accessible by road along the country’s perimeter, the vast majority of Iceland consists of uninhabited terrain, with sand and volcanic glass covering a desert terrain well over 12,000 miles in size. This is the sort of desolate locale ripe for a suspenseful set-piece, and as Halla—the notorious activist in Erlingsson’s film—scampered about its rugged surface, outwitting every helicopter and drone aiming to take her down, I was reminded of Cary Grant’s infamous battle with the deadly crop-duster in Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.” As played by Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir with winning perseverance and warm eyes that can fire daggers without warning, Halla is a woman after Mildred Hayes’ heart, so determined to raise awareness about industrial corruption that she has no qualms with torpedoing a few power lines in the process.

When she marches toward the camera to a quirky militaristic anthem evocative of “Moonrise Kingdom” during the opening credits, the camera pans over to reveal a three-piece band performing the soundtrack live. This conceit soon proves to be much more than a one-time sight gag a la Count Basie’s cameo in “Blazing Saddles,” as the musicians repeatedly materialize along with a Greek chorus of sorts, embodying the conscience and tireless spirit of Geirharðsdóttir’s protagonist in melodic form. The score by Davíð Þór Jónsson, who also composed the music for Erlingsson’s previous festival favorite, “Of Horses and Men,” ranks among the year’s best, emerging as a literal character in the movie without diffusing any tension or emotional nuance. Geirharðsdóttir is equally delightful as Halla’s twin sister, Ása, a bohemian yoga instructor whose dislike of extremism may make her an unlikely ally in her sibling’s uncompromising crusade.

Halla’s rage at profit-driven forces threatening to forfeit our survival by ruining the environment beyond repair couldn’t be timelier, especially when the government attempts to antagonize her by claiming that she has declared war on working people (there are echoes here of Trump’s motives behind championing the coal industry). How Erlingsson and co-writer Ólafur Egilsson go about tackling this topic is by turns poignant and comedic, leading to some well-earned moments of catharsis that had me cheering, such as when Halla—clad in a Nelson Mandela mask—yanks a drone out of the sky before smashing it to bits. Her ambivalence toward bringing new life into the world has caused her to put plans for adoption on hold, but when a four-year-old girl is left orphaned by the war in Ukraine, her attitude toward the future begins to shift. The film’s lyrical final shot comes as close to encapsulating mankind’s current self-imposed predicament as any I’ve seen in 2018.

Photo of Jonas Mekas by Joanna Kedzierska.

Jonas Mekas, the godfather of American avant-garde cinema whose diaristic chronicling of everyday life predated the modern internet by several decades, was set to be RIFF’s Guest of Honor until ill health caused him to reluctantly cancel. The 95-year-old auteur was still eager to conduct his scheduled masterclass vila Skype, and his exuberance was euphoric to behold. At one point striking a kung fu pose, Mekas displayed the energy of a man one-fifth his age, consistently punctuating the word “cinema” with an exclamation point. He rejects work that lingers on misery, opting to continue crafting “a celebration of life on this planet.”

Born in Lithuania a day before Christmas, Mekas vividly recalled in a 2015 interview how his brother gave him a still camera on his birthday, which just so happened to be the same week that Russian tanks rolled into his country. His first-ever pictures were taken of the tanks, causing a disgruntled lieutenant to rip the camera from his hands and destroy the footage. After being imprisoned for eight months with his brother in a labor camp, they eventually settled in New York, where the filmmaker still lives today. With online media liberating his intuitive creativity just as it did for David Lynch, Mekas launched his own site in 2006, where his experimental uploads continue to push the form in provocative ways. I particularly love his manifesto on the eternal youth of cinema, produced in honor of its centennial, where he insists that the art form can never age because “it is always beginning.” He considers his camera an extension of his hand, and will continue to use the same one until it needs to be replaced (he currently operates a GoPro).

Like a Flower in a Field, Mekas’ first solo exhibition in Iceland, debuted two days prior to the masterclass at Reykjavík’s Ásmundarsalur art gallery. Skillfully curated by Francesco Urbano Ragazzi, the exhibition featured three monitors compiling excerpts of the filmmaker’s online diaries. Likening the sprouting of flora in New York with the spontaneity of his artistry, Ragazzi selected 45 images of flowers captured in Mekas’ work to align the gallery windows, bathing the white-walled room in colorful light. A collection of handwritten statements from the director also covered the walls, my favorite being, “We do not need perfection! We need nervous breakdowns!”

Perfection certainly wouldn’t be the word to describe the masterclass itself, which was marred by poor reception that rendered Mekas’ answers nearly unintelligible. Every time his voice cut out, I silently recited the Icelandic mantra taught to me by the festival’s indispensable guest coordinator, Martiina Putnik: “þetta reddast,” meaning, “Oh well, it will work itself out somehow!” And work itself out it did, thanks in large part to Mekas’ indomitable spirit. So expressive were his gesticulations and jovial grins that they told us everything we needed to know, even when his words were obscured. He loved interacting with the audience, waving to each of us on the monitor as the camera scanned the crowd. I asked him about his belief in the importance of changing one’s mind—which he memorably voiced in defense of Paris Hilton—and how the chronically divided American populace could benefit from this perspective. This question elicited one of Mekas’ most animated responses, arguing that we are doomed to rot if we remain stuck in one way of thinking. He concluded the Q&A by taking a recording the audience with his GoPro (pictured above), making us the latest addition to his intimate oeuvre.

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Among the best movies I saw at RIFF was “Phoenix,” the first directorial feature effort of Norwegian actress-turned-filmmaker, Camilla Strøm Henriksen. She made her film debut in Martin Asphaug’s acclaimed 1989 drama, “A Handful of Time,” for which she earned the Best Actress prize at Norway’s Amanda Awards. During our chat at RIFF, Henriksen credited the picture with bringing a new energy to her nation’s cinema, increasing the number of high-quality films that were made there. Her interest in directing spawned from her frustration with the acting business and the difficulty in acquiring good roles, ultimately finding that she preferred telling stories rather than acting in them. Henriksen’s extensive experience in directing television, including over 100 episodes of Scandinavia’s longest-running soap, “Hotel Cæsar,” was an ideal training ground for the tight turnaround of independent filmmaking, since it required her to shoot a great deal in a small span of time, moving fast while being clear with her intentions.

The heroine of “Phoenix” is Jill (Ylva Bjørkaas Thedin), a girl on the cusp of celebrating her 14th birthday, whose unstable mother (Maria Bonnevie) and estranged father (Sverrir Gudnason) have caused her to become the sole parental figure in her family. Jill’s younger brother, Bo (Casper Falck-Løvås), may be pint-sized, but he’s also wise behind his years, able to see directly through the lies he’s fed. Henriksen first began developing “Phoenix” 12 years ago, around the same time I began my career as a published film critic. Both of us have vivid memories of seeing Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 masterpiece, “Pan’s Labyrinth” on the big screen for the first time, an experience that Henriksen found immensely influential as she crafted her own psychological portrait of a young girl.

“I saw it eight times and loved it, even though fantasy is not really my kind of thing at all,” Henriksen told me. “I was inspired by how seamlessly the director blended fantasy with melodrama full of pathos. My grandparents had worked in puppet theatre, and I grew up with the Norwegian fairy tales that they performed. The monsters in these stories externalized the fear of things in life that are too terrifying for children to fully comprehend. I thought that element would fit naturally into this family drama, where we are authentic in the psychology without allowing it to become the sort of social realist picture that bores me to death. Having the story be viewed from Jill’s heightened and subjective point-of-view is what draws in the audience. She has a very strong ambivalence toward her mother. In a way, she hates her and deep down, wants her dead, but that’s something she could never admit to herself. That little monster in the film externalizes her resentment and fear of her mother—all these feelings that are still undigested.”

Henriksen makes a point of not specifying the insidious disorder afflicting Jill’s mother, and says that no particular research was needed since the story was based on events from her own childhood. Her years of therapy have been immensely helpful, serving as a form of research by teaching her so much about herself. In terms of understanding the mind of an actor, Henriksen draws from her own personal experiences as well. She is well aware of how actors must bare their souls onscreen, and won’t be able to do so unless they feel they are in safe hands. Thedin’s remarkably assured and unmannered debut performance is a testament not only to her talent but the mastery of Henriksen’s direction.

“From the moment we first met, Ylva had this wonderful open curiosity about her,” said Henriksen. “Not only did she have an intuitive understanding of drama, she also had a great sense of empathy that really touched me. That wasn’t something that I was specifically looking for, but I realized when I met Ylva that this quality is important for the role of Jill. She taught me a lot, actually, because I initially had been looking to cast children whom you could sense were carrying a big burden. Both Ylva and Casper are very resourceful and you feel that they will survive even as their parents go under. The film is an ode to the strength and courage of children. I wanted to show that in a truthful way without being simplistic. There is no clear solution for their plight, but they have each other.”

Swedish production designer Eva Norén, whose credits include Tomas Alfredson’s 2008 landmark, “Let the Right One In,” collaborated with Henriksen to find subtle ways in expressing the characters’ inner journey through the mise-en-scène. Nearly the entire first half is set within the family’s claustrophobic loft, aside from one entrancing sequence set in Jill’s class, where she develops a crush on the boy seated next to her. The educational rainforest footage projected onto the screen before them makes it appear as if they being doused with water, a deft metaphor for the bracing sensations being felt by the girl.

“It’s the one moment where Jill finds a window to the world opening up,” noted Henriksen. “So much of her focus is inwards, since her life is centered around taking care of her family, while trying to get her mother on her feet. She has very little space to actually dream or invest in her own life—in a life that is outside the world of the family. With her mother planning for a job interview and her father due to arrive home in time for her birthday, Jill is now clinging to enough hope that enables her to have a moment of freedom. That scene in class is where she finally opens herself up to something else—her own sexuality—before her hopes are crushed. The subtlety with which this is conveyed came about through the writing process. Though the shooting script was quite close to the first draft, it came together only after a great deal of decluttering. I knew in my heart what I wanted the ending to be, but I didn’t trust it until that last draft.”

“Phoenix” will be released this Friday, October 12th, in Norway, and it is my deep hope that the film will receive the U.S. distribution it deserves. In my review published during the festival, I likened the film to Charles Laughton’s 1955 knockout, “The Night of the Hunter,” an enduring classic that I was delighted to hear Henriksen cite among her chief references. The haunting rendition of “Fly Me To The Moon” sung by a young girl over the end credits reminded me the famous sequence in Laughton’s film, where little orphaned Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce, dubbed by Betty Benson) comforts her brother by singing “Once Upon a Time There Was A Pretty Fly” as they sail along a river at night. Whereas Robert Mitchum’s sociopath-in-preacher’s clothing was the evil force tearing apart the children’s family, in the case of “Phoenix,” it is the even scarier scourge of mental illness.

“My music supervisor, Goran Obad, and I thought it would be lovely to have a young girl singing at the end,” recalled Henriksen. “We wanted somebody who sung well, but not too well—who didn’t hit all the notes. So he found a 14-year-old girl who isn’t an established star, but is obviously a good singer, as you hear during the credits. What I hope the song conveys is that the children were able to take something positive from their parents. Jill and Casper share a resourcefulness and an ability to express love that is, in some way, indicative of how they were brought up. Even though it’s going to be hard for them moving forward, they will be able to find joy in life.”

If I were asked to compare RIFF to any previous festival I’ve attended, the closest equivalent would be Ebertfest, the jubilant movie marathon annually held at Roger Ebert’s alma mater in Champaign, Illinois. Both events prioritize the moviegoing experience above all else, and celebrities are invited not to promote a project but to have their work honored. The stars aren’t on hand for interview opportunities, but that makes one’s interactions with them all the more meaningful. Mads Mikkelsen, recipient of this year’s Creative Excellence Award, chatted with me about how his brilliant 2012 collaboration with director Thomas Vinterberg, “The Hunt,” has become all the more radical in our current sociopolitical climate, challenging us to break the stigmas surrounding what can and cannot be discussed in regards to allegations of abuse. I treasured the opportunity to tell honorary guest and jury member Shailene Woodley that her performance in James Ponsoldt’s 2013 gem, “The Spectacular Now,” is one of the best I’ve ever seen. As the camera holds on her character during the film’s breathtaking final moment, every conflicted feeling she harbors for her ex ripples across her face, suggesting the many directions she could go, none of which are guaranteed.

After Helga Stephenson, former head of the Toronto International Film Festival and mentor to RIFF festival director Hrönn Marínósdóttir, was honored at a festive ceremony, she spoke with me about her fond memories of Ebert, whom she knew since the late ’70s. The tribute to Stephenson was held at Bessastaðir, the residence of Icelandic president Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson. When I got the chance to meet the president, I told him how refreshing it was to see a literate head of state who was knowledgable about history, supports universal health care and speaks in complete sentences. He savored every last one of my well-deserved compliments, asking me to “please continue,” before getting swept back up into the crowd. Photographer Donald Gíslason, a longtime friend of Guy Maddin’s, had endless great stories to share about Icelandic culture and the vibrant history of the festival, which has always taken full advantage of its natural surroundings (back in 2015, a screening took place in a “secret cave”). I also must give special thanks to photographer Joanna Kedzierska for her excellent film recommendations, her impromptu tour of Reykjavík’s nightlife and most of all, her friendship.

During my daily strolls to screenings at the Bíó Paradís, I passed a costumed singer (pictured above) who serenaded passersby with beautiful tunes, one of which moved me so deeply that it became the official anthem of my entire trip. “Goodnight, Irene,” the American folk standard first recorded by Huddie ‘Lead Belly’ Ledbetter, nailed the bittersweetness I felt as one of the greatest adventures of my life came to a close. As the plane lifted off the runway at Keflavík Airport, taking me back to a country of toxic 24-hour news cycles and misogynistic Supreme Court justices, my paraphrased version of Ledbetter’s song ran through my mind…

Goodbye, Iceland

I’ll see you in my dreams

Next Article: NYFF 2018: Ray & Liz, Asako I & II, Hotel by the River Previous Article: NYFF 2018: Divide and Conquer, What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?, Film Noir Revivals

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mrmichaelchadler · 6 years ago

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RIFF 2018: Woman at War, Jonas Mekas Exhibition and Camilla Strøm Henriksen on Phoenix

Photo of Jonas Mekas by Joanna Kedzierska.

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Goodbye, Iceland

I’ll see you in my dreams

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from All Content https://ift.tt/2QvJk26

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clarestrand · 8 years ago

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The Surreal in the Work of Clare Strand. Essay by Camilla Brown for Photomonitor.

Over the years Clare Strand has developed a range of projects and books and had a consistent output of her work nationally and internationally in exhibitions. Passionate about photography, she has been keen to interrogate its boundaries and limits. As with most contemporary art it can be hard to pin down Strand’s oeuvre as she adopts a heterogeneous style. Her work is always a project and exploration, and it seeks to provoke intelligent debate.

Strand’s exhibitions become public platforms that enable her to explore ideas, and often the subjects of her experiments are the visitors to the show. In 2015 in her solo exhibition Getting Better and Worse at The Same Time she made four kinetic sculptures in the space. In part the work she created were attempts to disrupt the context in which they were displayed, the commercial setting of a gallery space in central London. She stated that “The exhibition considers this complex proposition: can works continue to degrade yet still retain their value, their aesthetic and maintain a sense of reason?” One of the sculptures in this exhibition, ‘The Happenstance Generator’ was formed of a large Perspex dome on a metal plinth. Inside the dome were a selection of research images, which the artist had collected over 30 years. These photographs were blown about by hidden fans. The machine would randomly propel some towards the surfaces of the chamber, where they were visible to the viewer, before repositioning them again. There was a sense of the machine editing what the viewer would see and being a mechanical and haphazard curator of the work on show. In ‘The Entropy Pendulum’ each day during the exhibition a photographic print from a news archive was selected and positioned under the Pendulum’s constantly swinging weight. Over the course of the 35-day exhibition, each photograph was scraped and rubbed away under the abrasive weight of the pendulum. The next day that print would be placed on display in a frame already on the wall. In many ways both of these works are all about a process and have resonances with the work of the Fluxus movement with its sense of performance and undermining the notion of the artistic object. Yet photography – albeit in this instance found photography – lies at the heart of the work and in its material substance and changing contexts. Jump back to the early 2000s when Strand’s works were more formal portraits with large monochrome prints, such as in the series Unseen Agents (2003). This body of work explores supposed psychic emanations from adolescent children recorded by camera. Each subject’s head is shrouded with a fog-like halo that appears to be a depiction of their aura. Here she seamlessly links a contemporary form of typology photography with much earlier forms of photography when spiritualists believed the camera could document paranormal phenomena. Gone Astray Portraits (2002/3) also borrows from the 19th century street portrait convention of using painted murals as backgrounds to photograph city dwellers. Each subject is carefully styled to assume an urban generic type but with small clues which suggest wear and tear and some backstory – ripped tights here and a bandaged hand there. These works look at subjects that would otherwise be overlooked, a theme which she continued in 2011 with her series Skirts. This work seems to epitomise Strand’s humour and wry observation and interest in human behaviour. The title Skirts suggests an item of female clothing and as such a symbol of femininity often in the history of photography the object of the male photographers’ gaze. Yet those are not the skirts of this book. Instead we see skirts used to surround tables during formal events and at functions. Their function is to conceal chaos and to keep up appearances. This is a vernacular language which I assume has a fairly British sensibility. It is at once absurd to elevate such an everyday object to a work of fine art and yet it is also transformative. A bit like Duchamp did to the urinal (of course, a particularly male found object) Strand does with the Skirt. Adding to the absurdist nature of the series, Skirts now finds itself housed in the Museum of Modern Art collection in New York. Strand has also embraced commercial fashion photography and has stated “I’ve always learnt from fashion imagery, I like its freedom to embrace the absurd, and its refusal to provide any answers”. In her work Exquisite Corpse she was able in part to pay homage to the work of the surrealist photographers who had so long influenced her such as the Belgian Paul Nouge. A couple of the images are contemporary re-enactments of his earlier photographs with a woman’s head lying on a table with a circle of objects around her. In this case it is the visual effect of the surrealist’s vision which intrigues her, but more often she has been influenced by a surrealist approach to making work. In 2011 Strand devised a work entitled 10 Least Most Wanted. She selected work from her reference scrapbooks and then turned those images over to put on display their reverse side. It was a challenging concept as what the viewer saw was visually random. Most viewers are keen to find a logic to what is in front of them. Curators in museums often place great importance on their curatorial eye and the subjective performance of selecting what work is hung where in a show. Strand’s process is to some degree an intentional deconstruction of curatorial prowess. It also questions our value systems when it comes to placing art and artworks in some form of hierarchy and the museum’s and curator’s role in that process. Here the artist takes over the museum. The selection of work is at its heart random, linking it in part to the surrealist notion of automatic poetry or writing. 10 Least Most Wanted was recently exhibited as part of the Pompidou Centre Collection show A History of Art, Architecture, Design from the 1980s until Today, curated by this year’s Venice Biennale Director, Christiane Macel. Strand’s latest publication Girl Plays with Snake (2016) continues this theme and way of working. The book itself has a cover like a synthetic form of green snake skin. Inside are a collection of her images of girls with snakes. In this iteration of Strand’s ongoing research and reflection, women and girls are pictured holding, playing with and gazing fondly at snakes. She was keen to work out how to develop text for the work and considered authoring that herself. In the end she again reverted to a very surrealist approach including found and automatically generated texts around the theme. “A live necklet Draped around her Two deadly snakes Tamed by her Snake-farmer father “ What better surreal accompaniment to her images with its random nods to Freudian analysis, fetishism and desire. It is often hard to anticipate what Strand will do next. A few months back she set up a fairground attraction as an art installation at the Unseen Art fair in Amsterdam. Titled All that Hoopla, this work engaged visitors to throw rings around mini versions of Strand’s images to win prints. Despite the variety of her work several constant themes seem to bubble up which include her attempts to subvert the values of the art market and museum system in which her work operates. Also, as hopefully this essay has revealed, there is an ongoing connection to surrealism and the dadaist spirit in all its forms both in the history of photography and its embrace of the random, the absurd and the subconscious. Seen in that light, her practice can be seen to engage with a contemporary approach to an art movement that was vibrant and disparate and which sat on the edge of reason. Strand’s work continues this legacy in the way that it interrogates, explores and questions the world around us and photography in particular in an absurd, uncanny and ultimately surreal way. – essay by Camilla Brown

http://www.photomonitor.co.uk/2017/02/surreal-work-clare-strand/

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